Note: The day after publishing this quick note, I did a little more research. The key points are noted at the end of this article.
The other night I found myself flying west to east along Interstate I-90 through the mountains of western Montana on a moon obscured night. Even though I'm instrument current, and proficient, the forecast aloft called for ice at the MIAs. That meant filing IFR was not a workable option, so I traveled via 'I Follow Roads' under decent VFR conditions.
While fighting mountain wave (at least I was pointed 'downstream') and finding myself amazed once again at the blackness of the night under an overcast, I was aware that encountering a cloud lower than the forecast and observed bases was a very real possibility given the sparseness of the weather reporting, and the reality of flying from one microclimate to another. While this meant that I'd have to '180' out of it, I didn't believe it represented such a hazard as to discontinue the flight - as it turned out, I never even got anywhere close to a cloud, at least not one that I could see.
Even then, I worked hard to make sure that forward visibility in terms of the distant - and few- ground lights wasn't getting 'fuzzy' as I traveled from one linear segment of my trip to the next.
At some point near the town of Drummond I spotted an old Airway Beacon, still operational, flashing it's light as a tangible, and welcoming indication of safety. The airplane I was flying was fully equipped with G1000, a fancy autopilot, plus all the other bells and whistles, but seeing that old beacon flashing steadily was as reassuring to me as it would have been to someone my age over 80 years ago when the system was originally installed. Of course that guy or gal, back in 1935 would have been all bundled up in leather and wool, and blasting along in a fire breathing beast, probably with an open cockpit, at least in those early years.
But, now I had to look at my chart, after all, the old beacons here in Montana are still charted, and they should indicate the direction of light, and the corresponding Morse code, right? But where was the Drummond beacon? I couldn't find it on my chart. Is it because I'm running electronic charts on an iPad? Could it be that the mosaic somehow omitted that little blue star with it's directional arrows and Morse code? Or could it be that the FAA has started deleting these 'outdated' NAVAIDs from the chart when they feel showing such a NAVAID would cause clutter? Is there some other reason? Needless to say my workload was low enough that my mind couldn't help but wander a little bit in search of answers to these questions as I continued to scan my engine instruments. Yep, oil pressure is still in the green, she's purring right along.
I know they haven't been completely omitted because at least a few beacons are still charted such as on US HWY 12 west of Helena, or near Maudlow north of Bozeman. Where the rest are however is anyone's guess. I suppose I should call a friend who works at MT Aeronautics and get the straight poop, especially since out the window I see blinking lights, but on the chart I see nothing. Bummer.
No matter the outcome, I always felt Montana was fortunate to have maintained it's VFR Airway Beacon, a vestige of the old Airmail Routes. Not only was it a conversation starting historical feature, but it still provided very real peace of mind, and served as a relevant navigational cross check for pilots traversing the continental divide. The last part has remained especially true for VFR pilots choosing to fly antiquated or minimally instrumented airplanes after dark, something that the general public doesn't understand is perfectly legal, and when you're diligent, reasonably safe.
My hope is that as long as the State of Montana is willing to keep the lights on, that the FAA would be willing to chart them.
Authors Note: According to the Montana Division of Aeronautics the last of the remaining Airway Beacons are scheduled to be formally decommissioned by December 31st, 2021 - a mere three weeks after the flight that prompted me to write this post.
Idaho Aviation Foundation and MT Div. of Aeronautics are seeking donors and organizations who are willing 'to keep the lights on'. It's unclear how successful this push has been, or will be.
For my part, it's definitely the end of an era, and if the lights go out, I'll spend a little more time staring at that GPS.
For more information, please visit the MT Div. of Aeronautics: