5560Tango – Page 2 – Idaho Aviation Heritage

CNN Travel Segment on Concrete Arrows and Beacons

Check out this CNN Travel piece on the arrows. It includes quotes from Charlotte and Brian Smith.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/concrete-arrows-america/index.html

Local group works to protect a unique piece of aviation history

Did you see the segment that ran on Channel 8 back in 2016 about the restoration efforts?

“It’s almost like something out of a sci-fi movie. Giant concrete arrows scattered across the country, each of them pointing to another arrow. But these giant arrows weren’t built by aliens, rather they were built by the US government. Their sole purpose was to help guide the very first airmail pilots in the 1920’s.

“‘So they put these arrows in between 10 to 20 miles apart with beacons to guide the airplanes to their right direction, because they kept getting lost,’ said Greg Cobia, a pilot and aviation history enthusiast from Blackfoot.”

http://www.localnews8.com/news/kifi-top-story/local-group-works-to-protect-a-unique-piece-of-aviation-history/164837264

Short History of Flying In Idaho

Outdoor Idaho offers an excellent short history of flying in Idaho. The state’s storied connection with aviation begins early in the twentieth century. It was here, in the Intermountain West, that commercial airmail first took hold, on the Pasco-Boise-Elko route, courtesy of Varney Air Lines, which later became United Airlines.

http://idahoptv.org/outdoors/shows/flyingidaho/historyidahoaviation.cfm

Looking back at National Airmail Week in 1938

Take a look at the events of National Airmail Week back in 1938, when airmail was only 20 years old.

https://stamporama.com/articles/display_article.php?id=RAbK0s3pGc8SQ

Cibola County (NM) Airway Heritage Museum

Have you seen what the Cibola County Historical Society did down in New Mexico? They had to move the arrow to their site, but they’ve done a wonderful job of restoration. It is our goal to create a tour and museum for aviation heritage in Idaho.

http://www.cibolahistory.org/airway-heritage-museum.html

Concrete Arrows and the US Airmail Beacon System

This is a really good article on the system and it even includes information on Idaho!

Concrete Arrows and the U.S. Airmail Beacon System

United States Postal Service to Celebrate 100th Anniversary of U.S. Airmail Service

WASHINGTON — The United States Postal Service will honor the beginning of airmail service by dedicating two United States Air Mail Forever stamps this year.

The first, depicted above in blue, commemorates the pioneering spirit of the brave pilots who first flew the mail in the early years of aviation. The first-day-of-issue ceremony will take place May 1, 2018 at 11 a.m. at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, 2 Massachusetts Ave. N.E., Washington, DC. The event is free and open to the public. Followers of the U.S. Postal Service’s Facebook page can view the ceremony live at facebook.com/USPS. News about the stamps can be shared with the hashtags #AirMailStamps and #USAirMail.

Pilot Leon Cuddeback recalls United’s first flight

Did you know that United Airlines’ first flight included Boise, Idaho, on the itinerary? On the morning of April 6, 1926 — a day that would become a monumental part of United’s history — pilot Leon Cuddeback flew from Pasco, Washington, to Boise, Idaho, in a Swallow aircraft.