I found the beacon in Rockingham County
January 11, 2007, 2:43 PM
You may recall back in November in this entry that I was discussing a beacon visible from I-81 in Rockingham County.
Fast forward about a month and a half, and I can now tell you that I found the beacon. I was coming home from Harrisonburg last night, after attending a potluck at Rocktown Infoshop. I took Route 42 down as far as Bridgewater, and then crossed over to Route 11 on Dinkel Avenue. And there’s the light from the beacon, going around and around.
I’d spoken with some people about the beacon since I wrote my Journal entry, and they told me about an airport that I previously didn’t know about that exists in Bridgewater. I thought it was somewhat odd for an airport to be in Bridgewater, considering that the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport exists just over the county line in Weyers Cave. But okay. There’s the light, and it had been a curiosity of mine for some years.
So I turned onto Route 11 and proceeded south through Mount Crawford, and turned right onto the aptly-named Airport Road. Airport Road starts out with a one-lane bridge over some river or stream, and then follows a series of sharp curves. All the while, the beacon’s light is still visible in the distance. And there are houses on this road. I could not imagine living so close to that beacon, but still, there you go. And as I traveled along this road, the beacon’s sweep became somewhat narrower, making it apparent that I was getting closer to the source.
And then on the right side of the road, there it is. The beacon I’d been seeing is an aerodrome beacon, mounted on top of a structure to hold it up to the requisite height. The area all around is relatively flat, which explains the beacon’s visibility as I described in November. It’s drowned out by the lights of Harrisonburg to the north, and then there is hillier terrain at the border with Augusta County that blocks the light.
The beacon belongs to a private airport in Bridgewater, owned by Dynamic Aviation, which is headquartered there. I got no photos of the beacon, owing to the late hour that I went searching for it.
I do plan on getting photos later, though. I also get to see how overzealous any private security forces are at this location. The sign out front says, “Welcome to Dynamic Aviation – unauthorized imaging is prohibited”. Well, legally they can’t say anything about someone (such as me) photographing from a public street, i.e. Airport Road. And I’m going to get a shot of the beacon to show you, both by day and by night.
So there you go – mission accomplished.
Song: Fourth-season theme to Roseanne. I'm watching another DVD box set from Christmas.
Quote: There it is! - Me when I finally reached the airport
Categories: Harrisonburg