After I found that arrow and did some research on what they were used for, I read a little on the early history - Western Airlines was one of the earliest airlines. Basically, to help develop the aviation industry, the government offered contracts for expedited mail service (ie, “Air Mail”).
It was pretty crazy, by today’s standards. Open cockpit biplanes, they could get up to about 15,000 feet if conditions were right, but no oxygen, no radios, no electronics. Two flights a day, so spacing and separation were non-factors.
Some pilots would follow the railroads if the weather was bad so they could put it down and hitch a ride on a train to keep the mail moving, if need be. Before these arrows, the airline would contract with certain farmers along the way, who would build a fire at scheduled times as a navigational aid.
Maybe the most amazing thing is Western Airlines operated for 8 or 9 years before their first fatal accident. That’s pretty impressive, those pilots got to be true masters of airmanship & manual navigation.
I’ll bet your dad knew my uncle, who flew for Western for a long time, got to be chief pilot & VP of Operations, then went back to the cockpit when they joined Delta, retired in the early/mid 90s, I believe.
He flew F-86s for the Utah Air Guard, way back, they did some crazy stuff, like buzzing down Little Cottonwood.
I also knew Gene Oliver - he taught me some of the finer points of flying with PAX when I was a teenager. Also Mel Rozema, who was one funny SOB. I don’t think he was a college guy, but he had a ton of funny stories about flying pipelines, etc.
Heading to SLC for my nephew’s graduation next week and my sister suggested we go out to Antelope Island. Never actually been, but looks beautiful right now.
Antelope Island is great. In late May/early June there are a lot of wildflowers, which surprised me considering that the grass is dried and brown 10 months of the year.
Creepy related story - I user to worked with a former police officer from Moab who told me he investigated a fall off of Dead Horse point. He was convinced a husband pushed his wife off one of the many cliffs here, but he couldnt find enough evidence to charge him.
Article link here, but pictures involved. Well, 3d scans are involved. I think this is pretty cool. Just the tech involved is absolutely amazing. Yes we’ve had scans of the Titanic before, but this are so much more crisp. What other things on the bottom of the ocean can we start to look at now?
