The Forgotten Giant Arrows that Guide you Across America

[oneshooter]

Long before the days of radio (and those convenient little smartphone applications), the US Postal service began a cross-country air mail service using army war surplus planes from World War I, many piloted by former army flyers. To get the planes and everybody’s mail safely across the country by air, the postman was going to need a little help.

More at: http://www.messynessychic.com/2013/11/15/the-forgotten-giant-arrows-that-guide-you-across-america/

The hidden remains of our past. So much to learn.

Oneshooter

[Logical]

1. Neat story Oneshooter. Thanks for posting it. I love these type of things. n-t

[libodem]

2. Clueless

Less clueless, now. Thanks for the enlightenment.

[TwilightGardener]

3. That is pretty cool. Would love to find a forgotten arrow.

[PeoViejo]

4. Water Towers

Back in the 70's, I used to ferry aircraft to get flight time. Some of them had the barest legal instrumentation, so that left out landing at large airports to refuel. I used to follow the railroad tracks and use the Water Towers in small towns to maintain my bearings. It was a lot of fun, landing at the small air strips that serviced those small communities. It's a part of America that few people get to see.

[Major Nikon]

12. I call that "Water Tower Navigation"

In the days before handheld GPS, it was quite handy.

I still love landing at tiny airfields. I have thousands of them in my logbook.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

5. Fast delivery by plane predated airfields so postal planes were often amphibious to land in lakes.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/First_international_Airmail_flight,_1919.jpg

[ReRe]

6. Very interesting...

... and I thought I knew everything. Thanks!

[arely staircase]

7. that is really cool nt

[arely staircase]

8. also that is a really cool site overall. nt

[TeamPooka]

9. Thnak you for this story

[Codeine]

10. What an awesome site all-around.

Fantastic stuff!

[rocktivity]

11. Reminds me of when a I saw plane fly in so low as I was driving on a highway

Last edited Tue Nov 26, 2013, 10:46 PM - Edit history (1)

I didn't understand why I didn't hear a crash. I found out that there was a small airport nearby -- and that the reason why the highway I'd been on was a such a straightaway was so that it could serve as an emergency runway or landing strip!


rocktivity

[BlancheSplanchnik]

13. so cool....

Thanks!