KEZS Tower Dismantling for Transplant to 68C
December 2, 2010

Tower Project Background...

These old 51 ft. beacon towers were the backbone of the Post Office Department's lighted beacon airway navigation system established in 1923. This early airway navigation system placed beacons every 10-15 miles along the airmail routes for pilots to follow, one to the next [relevant website]. Each site was constructed to the same generic design and engineering specification [pop-up example figure].

When the lighted beacon system was superseded by the LF radio Range (LFR) system (the "four course A-N Range"), and Radio Direction Finding (RDF) in the '30s and '40s, many of these beacon towers were relocated to airports to provide a visual signal at night that "here is a lighted airport".

Air navigation systems continually evolved with technology to the Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range (VOR, or "Omni") system in the '50s, with DME (Distance Measuring Equipment) added in the '60s, Loran for aviation usage in the '80s, to GPS ubiquity in the '90s. These big old towers are a remarkable piece of aviation navigation history. We will be refurbishing this retired tower from Shawano and will erect it near the hangar clubhouse at Iola to preserve an artifact of aviation history for our visitors to appreciate.

Jim's Crane. Very cool tool!...
Jim's crane

(Blenker truck driver)...
Blenker driver

Rocky & Gary arrival...
Rocky, Gary

Old tower's last breath at KEZS...
old tower's last stand

Positioning the crane...
positioning the crane

Going up to the top...
going up

Tool bucket coming up...
tool bucket up

The big light is free...
light is free

Beacon aweigh!...
light away

Beacon coming down...
light coming down

Step one done...
light on ground

Rocky, Clarence, and the beacon...
Rocky, Clarence, beacon

It's a big light!...
beacon

A serious parabolic reflector...
beacon innards

Getting ready to grab the tower...
straps

The modern new guy, with the old guy in the background...
new tower

Some brush removal before chopping the base...
brush removal

Let's think about this a minute...
discussion

Time for a little torch work...
torch

and a portable reciprocating saw...
sawzall

then a couple sledgehammer taps...
sledgehammer

and the tower swings free...
swing free

Up and over the fence...
over the fence

Heading for the flatbed...
to the flatbed

Sooo gently...
gently

Top platform first, to get at the clearance light poles...
down

An interesting perspective...
perspective

Pulling off those clearance light whiskers...
clearance lights

Positioning forward on the flatbed...
slide forward

Load looks good...
disconnect

The beacon will ride in Rocky's pickup...
load up the beacon

The little new beacon is watching over the roof of the FBO office...
new guy watching

This should ride well lying down...
lying down

Strapping down the spindly big old tower...
strapping

Rocky, comforting the beacon for its ride to Iola...
ready to ride

Gary, reflecting on the situation...
Gary

Gary, Jim, and Rocky, tidying up the crane's lift straps...
tidying up

A driver happy with his load...
flatbed driver

Good job, Jim...
Curns Crane Service

Thanks also to Blenker Transport...
Blenker Transport

Exposing the concrete pads; they'll need to be broken off on another trip...
concrete pads

The old tower, leaving its home of nearly 80 years to a new exhibit position at Iola (68C)...
on the road

All unloaded at 68C, resting 'til next spring, when it can be sandblasted and painted...
resting at 68C

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This page last updated on December 7, 2010

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