Hell, some of those early air mail pilots would fly low so they could navigate by the road signs.
That's why cities painted their name on water towers, so the air mail pilots could figure out where they were .

Maybe we should go back to that system, it would make this story more explainable.
http://www.examiner.com/article/plane-lands-at-wrong-airport-now-stuck-runway-too-short-for-dreamlifter-takeoffA jumbo jet landed at the wrong airport and now it is stuck. The giant Dreamlifter cargo jet landed about 10 miles off course at a small airport and the reason it is stuck is that the airport doesn’t have a runway long enough for the jet to takeoff, according to ABC News on Nov. 21.
The Atlas Air Flight 4241 landed at Colonel James Jabara Airport, but the747 Dreamlifter should have landed about 10 miles away at the McConnell Air Force Base. Now the huge jet sits on a runway that falls short about 3,000 feet of the length needed for the cargo jet to takeoff.
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