January 18, 1968: Air Force Flight Test Center Aids Local Airport

An Air Force Flight Test Center UH-1F Iroquois helicopter picked up a 500 pound airport beacon warning light at the Kern County Airport and placed it atop a 50 foot tower overlooking Lake Isabella. The Kern County Parks Division sought the Center’s help after commercial firms proved unable to transport and emplace the beacon.

Kern Valley Airport is a public airport located in the Kern River Valley, three miles south of Kernville in Kern County, California, United States. It serves the Lake Isabella area in the Southern Sierra Nevada.  The airport is mostly used for general aviation.  Kern Valley Airport covers 270 acres and has one runway:  Runway 17/35: 3,500 by 50 feet, surface: asphalt.  The airport has an average of 28 operations per day. and 20 aircraft are based at the airport.

An aeronautical light beacon is a visual navigation aid displaying flashes of white and/or colored light to indicate the location of an airport, a heliport, a landmark, a certain point of a Federal airway in mountainous terrain, or an obstruction. The light used may be a rotating beacon or one or more flashing lights.