81 LA-A Cuervo

GPS: 35.107036, -104.408078

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Location / Airway

Location / Name

NEW MEXICO:  Guadalupe County

81 LA-A Cuervo, site No. 81 on the Los Angeles-Amarillo airway
AKA

GPS: 35.107036, -104.408078

Contract Air Mail

CAM #34 Los Angeles-New York
Los Angeles-Amarillo airway
Albuquerque-Amarillo section

Operator

Transcontinental & Western Air (TAT)

Drone Photos

Contributors Photos

Observations and Notes

The Cuervo beacon site is located 5 miles out a dirt road going north from Cuervo, N.M. 

Exit I-40 at Cuervo itself and then follow gps out to the arrow. 

The arrow is next to the dirt road on the other side a barbed-wire.  There was a small herd of cattle farther out in the field when we got there.  Once we got out of the car they started walking towards us to see what we were doing.  As they got closer, we then noticed that there was a bull among the herd.  Now we live next to a cattle ranch, and are very aware that bulls can be unpredictable, so we erred on the side of caution and did not climb over the fence.  If there had been no bull in the herd, I probably would have climbed over to take the ground photos.

We couldn’t have had a better day to fly the drone.  I got about 1-2 minutes of flying time over the arrow, when the drone suddenly got a mind of its own and took off over the field behind me.  The drone didn’t respond at all, even after I hit ‘emergency landing’.  I then climbed under the barbed-wire fence and limped after it, due to twisting my knee 2 days earlier.  By the time I cleared the fence I couldn’t see the drone at all, so I just kept limping onward in the last known direction, hoping to find it laying out in the field somewhere.  After going a couple of hundred yards I heard the drone and thought that it landed in the field.  But the noise wasn’t coming from the ground, but above me.  When I looked up the drone was heading back to the starting point.  So back I went.  When I got back to the car the drone was hovering above me in a stationary position.  I landed the drone safely, changed batteries & re-calibrated it, and tried again.  This time it responded to the controls and I was finally able to get some good video.

The front & middle portions of the arrow are in good condition, while all that remains of the two rear portions are the outside edges.  I was unable to get the length of the arrow, although I estimated it to be between 55-60 feet in length.  The arrow points in an E-NE direction.  The pilot would approach on a heading of 104° and exit on a heading of 63°.

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