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Because the US Postal Service started using cross-country air mail before the days of getting reliable radio in their army surplus planes, the US Postal Service installed these arrows for the flyer's safety. The line of the beacons bisects the country longitudinally from San Francisco to New York City.
originally posted by: skunkape23
I really hope Erich Von Daniken doesn't read this.
originally posted by: Cuervo
a reply to: baddmove
I know you guys are half-joking about relating it to the Nazca lines but it's not like it was impossible to fly with the current technology back then. Flying doesn't require electronics or even any sort of super-modern materials.
Maybe the Nazca lines were to serve as navigation assistants for the native sheepskin zeppelin army! It's not impossible.
originally posted by: skunkape23
I really hope Erich Von Daniken doesn't read this.
The United States Postal Service first made the arrows in 1924. What? The Postal Service? Why did they make the arrows? In the early 1920s, airplanes hadn’t been around for very long. The Postal Service was experimenting with using airplanes to deliver mail. The Postal Service established routes along which to fly airmail. They called the routes “airways.” The Postal Service decided that pilots needed to be able to fly during both day and night to deliver the mail quickly. So they came up with the idea of building arrows and beacons. They built the towers in the middle of the concrete arrows. These giant arrows were the foundations for electrical beacons. The postal service hired people to turn on the beacons every night to guide airmail pilots flying airways in the dark. These people were a lot like lighthouse keepers. How far apart were the arrows? They placed the beacons about every ten miles along an airway. The beacons or lights sat on top of tall steel towers, between 20 and 87 feet high. The beacons were two, very bright lights (1,250,000 candlepower). They ran on electricity and rotated so that a pilot would see flashes. They were only 10 miles apart so that when a pilot arrived at one beacon, he could see the flashes of the next. Did the arrows all point the same direction? No. The arrows pointed towards the next beacon along the airway, so pilots could use them to stay on course during daylight hours. The towers and foundations were painted with bright colors (yellow and black or orange and white) so pilots could see them easily.
originally posted by: skunkape23
I really hope Erich Von Daniken doesn't read this.
originally posted by: r0xor
originally posted by: skunkape23
I really hope Erich Von Daniken doesn't read this.
all-time greatest reply.
originally posted by: Denoli
originally posted by: r0xor
originally posted by: skunkape23
I really hope Erich Von Daniken doesn't read this.
all-time greatest reply.
Or the ancient alien tards are gonna test the date and come up with 40000 years old !
Yep the old air mail service cover up !