An airport can notam its out of service beacon in a heartbeat, and runway lights are yet another issue if you can't find the airport. I am amazed the way some airports can be so nonchalant about their beacons. One of them decided to block off 20 degrees with a metal plate along a vfr corridor saying it annoyed the tower, and one let the beacon break down for over a year supposedly waiting on parts. My conclusion is, beacons are not used seriously enough anymore to count on them. One had better have gps!

You have to respect those who flew in the days before gps or loran. I think pilots were more aware of what was going on in those days and had a sixth sense for how to find things. I wasn't around but I would hope the present lackadaisical attitude towards beacons goes with the age of gps.