# Gaint yellow concrete arrows guided early airplane pilots across America! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 31, 2013, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaint-yellow-concrete-arrows-guided-early-airplane-pilots-across-america/667670 "2013-08-31T16:48:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaint-yellow-concrete-arrows-guided-early-airplane-pilots-across-america/667670/1 "2013-08-31T16:48:59Z")
[True Fact!](http://www.snopes.com/travel/airline/arrows.asp) [More here](http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/nevada-and-west/beacons-arrows-kept-pioneer-pilots-going-astray-nevada) > [@](#): > > On a hillside 60 miles northeast of Las Vegas, a giant concrete arrow draws an invisible line across Mormon Mesa to Interstate 15 in the distance. > > It looks like it was poured there within the past few months, perhaps as a playful piece of modern art or maybe directions for invading aliens. > > The arrow actually points toward Salt Lake City and the past. Only the encroaching brush hints at its true age. > > In the earliest days of commercial aviation, before the advent of radio guidance, the federal government constructed a system of beacons and arrows to literally light the way from state to state and coast to coast. > > Every 10 miles or so along established airmail routes, pilots would find a tower roughly 50 feet tall and topped with a rotating light. > > Beneath most of the towers, they would find concrete foundations between 50 and 70 feet long and shaped like arrows stitched along the flight path. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaint-yellow-concrete-arrows-guided-early-airplane-pilots-across-america/667670/2 "2013-08-31T17:13:11Z")
Huh. Interesting… ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaint-yellow-concrete-arrows-guided-early-airplane-pilots-across-america/667670/3 "2013-08-31T17:34:34Z")
Thanks for posting, this was something I never heard of. [Here’s another article](http://eaachapter936.blogspot.com/2013/01/concrete-arrows.html) that goes into more detail. Includes some lat. long. co-ordinates you can put into Google Earth to see the arrows. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaint-yellow-concrete-arrows-guided-early-airplane-pilots-across-america/667670/4 "2013-08-31T18:35:27Z")
That’s interesting. The only one of those I’d previously been aware of was [secretly Superman’s doorkey.](http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/fortress4.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaint-yellow-concrete-arrows-guided-early-airplane-pilots-across-america/667670/5 "2013-08-31T18:41:16Z")
I’m not sure how long it lasted but before the beacons, they paid farmers to light bonfires to use as navigation. There is one beacon still in use, I think in Montana. I saw all this on a tv show that I have recorded, I’ll try to check it again soon. It completely left out the yellow arrows though. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaint-yellow-concrete-arrows-guided-early-airplane-pilots-across-america/667670/6 "2013-08-31T18:54:55Z")
I am reminded of the stories told by British military units in France circa 1940, about how treacherous locals plowed arrows into farm fields to guide Nazi attacks on Allied positions. Apparently these picturesque accounts were nothing more than paranoia-inspired legends. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gaint-yellow-concrete-arrows-guided-early-airplane-pilots-across-america/667670/7 "2013-08-31T21:14:10Z")
Way cool. I followed a few of the links and found there was one of these beacons almost in my back yard (well, 20 miles away) but it was last seen sometime in the 1940s. The spot is now empty farmland. Bummer.