Beacon and Tower, Airway
notes: label: Physical Description
content: Airway Beacon Light, last one operational in USA. A 24" rotating beacon light, with coded red signal light and control units. Top five feet of tower included. Removed from Crestline, Whitewater, California (near Palm Springs).
label: Alternate Name
content: Airway Beacon and Tower
label: Key Accomplishment(s)
content: Last Operational Air Beacon in the U.S.
label: Brief Description
content: Night flying presented special hazards for air mail pilots. In the 1920s, the Post Office established a system of lighted airways marked by powerful rotating beacons. Placed 16 km (10 mi) apart, they rotated every 10 seconds and were visible 60 km (40 mi) away.
place: label: Country of Origin
content: United States of America
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Air and Space Museum Collection
label: Location
content: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
label: Exhibition
content: America by Air
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Transferred from the Federal Aviation Administration
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Air and Space Museum
identifier: label: Inventory Number
content: A19730705000
objectType: label: Type
content: EQUIPMENT-Ground Control Apparatus
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Materials
content: Steel, aluminum, copper, glass, paint
label: Dimensions
content: 3-D: 185.4 × 172.7 × 454.7cm, 438.6kg (73 in. × 68 in. × 14 ft. 11 in., 967lb.)