Casper-Natrona County International Airport Rotating Beacon on Display in Terminal

Casper-Natrona County International Airport announced that the Airport’s rotating beacon, which had been replaced August 24, 2022, has been relocated to the Airport terminal building bag claim area.

“There was a lot of interest in the disposition of the beacon once it was removed,” said Glenn Januska, Airport Director. “We knew we needed to do something with it where the public could see it.”

Since the beacon had resided on top of the Air Traffic Control Tower, the Airport had contracted for the construction of a beacon “tower” so that it could be placed in the terminal.

“Most people know that prior to a bag claim belt turning on at an airport, there is a light that flashes and a ‘horn’ that sounds so passengers know the belt is ready to move,” said Januska. “We have both of those on our bag claim device, but now, along with the flashing light, the beacon will turn on and rotate as long as the bag claim device is running.”

The old beacon, while not original, was installed in 1973. While the actual installation date is not known, assuming/guessing July 1, 1973, it would have been in operation 17,951 days up to the date it was replaced. The beacon rotates fully 12.5 times per minute, or 750 rotations per hour. Assuming it is on an average 11 hours per day, at 8,250 rotations per day, it rotated approximately 148,085,750 times during its’ lifetime.