Submitted by Albuquerque AFSS
Magdalena Airport FSS, New Mexico, date unknown
Arial view of Magdalena Airport
Photo by Bill and Jack Bell and submitted by Steve Owen
Mesa Gigante, New Mexico, Site 66, Airway Beacon Generator Hut
Above is the generator hut for the soon to be Mesa Gigante, New Mexico airway beacon. This was the former Suwanee generator hut know as site 74 in 1930 and 1931. It was in the process of being moved from the above location to about 5 miles away, where it was to be placed on the realigned LA-A airway route. From 1931 on, it was repainted as Hut 66 and called Mesa Gigante.
Suwanee site 74 was a Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) beacon, aligned from Gallup to Clovis by this pioneering airline, as the first beacon line in this region (early 1929). The airway beacon and concrete arrows were located uphill atop the mesa rim. After a major aircraft accident at Mt. Taylor, TAT went broke after financial struggles that lasted about 1 year after the accident. TAT merged with Transcontinental and Western Airlines in 1930. The CAA took the airway segment over in 1930 and had the beacons in this segment shifted to the 1930’s-40’s LA-A alignment.
Photo by Bill and Jack Bell and submitted by Steve Owen
1931
The new home for the former Suwanee generator hut, site 74, now relocated, renamed, and repainted to Mesa Gigante, site 66 on the LA-A. The actual airway beacon was located up on the top of the mesa rim with a lengthy run of power cable.
Submitted by Steve Owen
Compare the above 2012 photo with the 1931 black and white photo above. It was taken from the same angle and height.
Submitted by Steve Owen
2012
The above and below photos are all that remains of Site 66, Airway Beacon Generator Hut, Mesa Gigante, New Mexico, The number 59 on the left side of the roof is not a beacon number but a partial coordinate. This generator hut is one of several LA-A beacon huts located on private land and moved from it’s original site which was known as Suwanee, site 74.
Submitted by Steve Owen
Submitted by Steve Owen
Submitted by Steve Owen
Grants Radio Station, New Mexico, about the 1950’s
Grants FSS was operational from 1953 to 1973 and it replaced the CAA’s Acomita FSS airfield site, which was active from 1931 to 1953, due to its remote location, far from pavement. A generation later, both Zuni and Grants sites were shut down and consolidated by the FAA at the Gallup airport in 1973.
Grants Radio Station, New Mexico
Photos submitted by Steve Owen
This was your typical early 1950’s Flight Services Station. Grants FSS was operational from 1953 to 1973 and it replaced the Civil Aeronautics Authority’s (CAA) Acomita FSS airfield site, which was active from 1931 to 1953, due to its remote location, far from pavement. A generation later, both Zuni and Grants sites were shut down and consolidated by the FAA at Gallup airport in 1973.
The above 2012 photos show what the above site looked like after refurbishing of the LA-A site 62 generator shack and tower, courtesy of the wonderful volunteers of “Cibola County Historical Society.” This organization plans to convert this old Flight Service building into a museum in the 2013-2014 time period.
Cibola County Historical Society, Airway Museum (above)
Above photo shows the refurbishing of the Grants, NM Fight Service Station building.
Submitted by Steve Owen
El Morro Radio, New Mexico, January 9, 1952
Photo taken by the local Grants Newspaper during the rescue of an F-51 pilot, Capt William H. Palmer of Dayton OH, who had bailed out the night before, south of Zuni, New Mexico. He had been trying to reach El Morro CAA field (LA-A site 59B) but had to jump and broke his arm after hitting the tail surfaces of the aircraft.
El Morro Radio, originally commissioned in 1933, can be seen on the left.
Submitted by Albuquerque AFSS
Estancia Airport FSS, New Mexico, date unknown
Arial view of Estancia Airport
Submitted by Albuquerque AFSS
Evans Airport FSS, New Mexico, date unknown
Arial view of Evans Airport
Harrington Ranch Airway Radio Beacon Site 39, New Mexico
This beacon was located at Harrington Ranch Field between El Paso and Columbus, New Mexico, on the Los Angeles-El Paso Airway. A Fan marker was also installed here.
Gallup FSS (GUP), New Mexico April 25, 1986
Deming FSS (DMN), New Mexico, April 4, 1993