Hello all.
Can anyone tell me what the photo and spotter conditions are in Portugal.
Every county has different ways of dealing with it ofcourse.
If anyone had troubles let me know than please, and at what airfield ofcourse.
Also i would like to know about if you need to have an basevisit for Sintra and Alverca or that a short call is more than enough for a visit there.
Thanks in advance for all the info and help.
Richard
Portugal
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Visiting Portugal (especially Lisbon) quite often, I can tell you taking pictures at Lisbon is no problem whatsoever. There is one good place at the aiport which is used by many local spotters. You can take pictures there and I have even seen guys using radios. Not using those myself, I am not sure of that is without problem.
Military is different though, not so much because it is not allowed, more because you can't see much from outside the bases.
Montijo, at three sides surrounded by the river Tejo. The only accessible side is too far away from anything to see.
Alverca, the museum is ok, the rest is not. You can see something with a lot of effort, but most is hidden. Alverca is mostly occupied by the maintenance factility of OGMA, which is a private company.
Sintra, this is the most open field of all. You can see one platform when you drive along the fence. Maybe even if you pass along the gate and walk on a little. However, they will spot you pretty fast as well and I am not sure if they will be happy with you walking along the fence. Sintra also houses the storage hangars of the museum with a large collection of planes. Maybe you can talk your way onto the base by requesting to visit these hangars.
Monte Real, completely surrounded by woods and the F-16s are parked in shelters and sun covers. I would be surprised if you can see anything here.
Beja, this is by far the largest airbase of the Portuguese. From the gate (which is already on military property), it is still a couple of kilometers to the platforms. Which are surrounded by hangars. Also the end of the runway is still a long way from the road and fence. Taking pictures will be only of the bellies of the planes.
And above all, the Portuguese Air Force is not really known for flying a lot. Although they have quite a large set of planes, you will not see much from the outside at either of the bases. Best way is to ask for base visits through either the embassy in the Netherlands, or through the Air Force HQ in Lisbon. In the past they were really easy with that and almost all requests got positive responses.
Erwin
Military is different though, not so much because it is not allowed, more because you can't see much from outside the bases.
Montijo, at three sides surrounded by the river Tejo. The only accessible side is too far away from anything to see.
Alverca, the museum is ok, the rest is not. You can see something with a lot of effort, but most is hidden. Alverca is mostly occupied by the maintenance factility of OGMA, which is a private company.
Sintra, this is the most open field of all. You can see one platform when you drive along the fence. Maybe even if you pass along the gate and walk on a little. However, they will spot you pretty fast as well and I am not sure if they will be happy with you walking along the fence. Sintra also houses the storage hangars of the museum with a large collection of planes. Maybe you can talk your way onto the base by requesting to visit these hangars.
Monte Real, completely surrounded by woods and the F-16s are parked in shelters and sun covers. I would be surprised if you can see anything here.
Beja, this is by far the largest airbase of the Portuguese. From the gate (which is already on military property), it is still a couple of kilometers to the platforms. Which are surrounded by hangars. Also the end of the runway is still a long way from the road and fence. Taking pictures will be only of the bellies of the planes.
And above all, the Portuguese Air Force is not really known for flying a lot. Although they have quite a large set of planes, you will not see much from the outside at either of the bases. Best way is to ask for base visits through either the embassy in the Netherlands, or through the Air Force HQ in Lisbon. In the past they were really easy with that and almost all requests got positive responses.
Erwin
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The reality is different. The north side is completely open and you can watch and read all active aircraft from the main gate.ehusmann wrote:Monte Real, completely surrounded by woods and the F-16s are parked in shelters and sun covers. I would be surprised if you can see anything here.
If you position yourself in the approach of runway 01 you can take pics of the aircraft. Bit high indeed but not all always. Every now and then one will pass off nice pics.ehusmann wrote:Beja, this is by far the largest airbase of the Portuguese. From the gate (which is already on military property), it is still a couple of kilometers to the platforms. Which are surrounded by hangars. Also the end of the runway is still a long way from the road and fence. Taking pictures will be only of the bellies of the planes.
Erwin
Both bases are included in our airfield guides.
Greetings,
Stefan
Two years ago we did a small Portugal tour, we we're invited by the Air Force HQs to visit all the bases in three days. Unfortunately our visit at Monte Real was cancelled so we decided to visit Talavera in Spain to see some of the SF-5M's
Sintra is ok from outside the base but there isn't that much to see. The CeF337's are withdrawn from use and only a few C-212's are still active at this moment. You might see some of the Chippies flying around towing gliders but that's pretty much it....
At Alverca you have to be lucky. When we visited Alverca back in 2006 the guards gave us 5 minutes to collect the serials of the stored A-7P's...You can always give it a try since it's only an 20 minutes drive from Lisbon. This is what we got there, there is more to see if you're lucky!
A-7P 5526 Stored, ex FAP
A-7P 5517 Stored, ex FAP
A-7P 15522 Stored, ex FAP
A-7P 15527 Stored, ex FAP
A-7P 15529 Stored, ex FAP
A-7P 15534 Stored, ex FAP
TA-7P 15545 Stored, ex FAP
TA-7P 15547 Stored, ex FAP
TA-7P 15549 Stored, ex FAP
TA-7P 15550 Stored, ex FAP
F-86F 5360 Stored, ex FAP
P-3P 14801 Stored, ex FAP
T-37C 2411 Preserved on pole as ‘02411’, ex FAP
T-37C 2412 Preserved on pole as ‘02412’, ex FAP
Museum
A-7P 15508 Museum (outside), ex FAP
F-86F 5319 Museum (outside), ex FAP
G-44 129 Museum (inside), ex MP
G-91R/3 5441 Museum (outside), ex FAP
L-21B 3212 Museum (inside), ex FAP
Spitfire HF IXc 5563 Museum (inside) as ML255/MR-Z
T-37C 2420 Museum (inside) ex FAP
T-38A 2601 Museum (outside) ex FAP
Montijo Impossible.....
Beja Erwin is right....
If you like to see the complete Log I can post it here.....
Sintra is ok from outside the base but there isn't that much to see. The CeF337's are withdrawn from use and only a few C-212's are still active at this moment. You might see some of the Chippies flying around towing gliders but that's pretty much it....
At Alverca you have to be lucky. When we visited Alverca back in 2006 the guards gave us 5 minutes to collect the serials of the stored A-7P's...You can always give it a try since it's only an 20 minutes drive from Lisbon. This is what we got there, there is more to see if you're lucky!
A-7P 5526 Stored, ex FAP
A-7P 5517 Stored, ex FAP
A-7P 15522 Stored, ex FAP
A-7P 15527 Stored, ex FAP
A-7P 15529 Stored, ex FAP
A-7P 15534 Stored, ex FAP
TA-7P 15545 Stored, ex FAP
TA-7P 15547 Stored, ex FAP
TA-7P 15549 Stored, ex FAP
TA-7P 15550 Stored, ex FAP
F-86F 5360 Stored, ex FAP
P-3P 14801 Stored, ex FAP
T-37C 2411 Preserved on pole as ‘02411’, ex FAP
T-37C 2412 Preserved on pole as ‘02412’, ex FAP
Museum
A-7P 15508 Museum (outside), ex FAP
F-86F 5319 Museum (outside), ex FAP
G-44 129 Museum (inside), ex MP
G-91R/3 5441 Museum (outside), ex FAP
L-21B 3212 Museum (inside), ex FAP
Spitfire HF IXc 5563 Museum (inside) as ML255/MR-Z
T-37C 2420 Museum (inside) ex FAP
T-38A 2601 Museum (outside) ex FAP
Montijo Impossible.....
Beja Erwin is right....
If you like to see the complete Log I can post it here.....
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Vulture One
- Scramble Senior
- Posts: 298
- Joined: 08 Sep 2003, 23:44
- Subscriber Scramble: Vulture One
- Location: Fife, Scotland
Hi,
In December 2006 on holiday in the Algarve, wanted to visit Beja and was prepared for a long drive. However they said that it was not going to be possible as they did not allow visits and suggested I visited the Sintra museum instead (only another 120kms!). They also suggested I come back the following year - this was all from Beja squadrons. I wrote to them direct because the FAP HQ just did not respond at all. Having said that, I have no Air Force connection just a member of the public.
So took lots of photographs of the G91 in Portimao instead - poor substitute!
Regards
Rick W
Scotland
In December 2006 on holiday in the Algarve, wanted to visit Beja and was prepared for a long drive. However they said that it was not going to be possible as they did not allow visits and suggested I visited the Sintra museum instead (only another 120kms!). They also suggested I come back the following year - this was all from Beja squadrons. I wrote to them direct because the FAP HQ just did not respond at all. Having said that, I have no Air Force connection just a member of the public.
So took lots of photographs of the G91 in Portimao instead - poor substitute!
Regards
Rick W
Scotland
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Fireman Sam
- Scramble Newbie
- Posts: 32
- Joined: 04 Feb 2008, 04:53
- Subscriber Scramble: Yes
- Contact:
Hi there
The museum at Alverca is open all week except mondays, at Sintra its just possible to visit during the weekend (Saturday and Sunday).
If you are interested in going to Monte Real there is a good place to take some photos, the problem is to have luck and catch the F-16 because of the small amount of daily flights.
If you are also interested in some airlines spotting there is some nice places to go at Lisbon Airport.
I´m the webmaster of an portuguese spotting group (http://www.portugalspotters.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)
We have an spotting guide in english please send me you e-mail and I will send it to you. If you want to come to our country we will also show you the best spots.
Regards
Sandro
The museum at Alverca is open all week except mondays, at Sintra its just possible to visit during the weekend (Saturday and Sunday).
If you are interested in going to Monte Real there is a good place to take some photos, the problem is to have luck and catch the F-16 because of the small amount of daily flights.
If you are also interested in some airlines spotting there is some nice places to go at Lisbon Airport.
I´m the webmaster of an portuguese spotting group (http://www.portugalspotters.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)
We have an spotting guide in english please send me you e-mail and I will send it to you. If you want to come to our country we will also show you the best spots.
Regards
Sandro