Last week, when on a pilgrimage to Fatima, we ended up using LPSR as an alternative to the much closer Fatima/Giesteria, which is now closed permanently for possibly more lucrative car-racing uses.
There are some usable microlight airfields closer to Fatima, but runway length is too short for my comfort.
We had been at LPSR on our honeymoon 14 years back and it was a booming little airfield with a restaurant full of keen flyers at the weekend.
Last week there was zero activity on the Saturday, a few closed hangars, nobody to be seen around or answering on the local frequency and the restaurant looked like closed since ages ago.
Longish 1200m, bumpy, SL runway on the Tejo river bank. With westerly xwind, the runway is in the lee of the hill that forms the western bank, presumably causing some shear.
No fuel or fees (or at least anyone to collect them) although [email protected] did answer emails. We had to look around a bit to find the exit from the fenced airside.
Taxis are available by booking @ +351.243332919. The 1-hr taxi ride to Fatima via Ribeira do Santarem for a short greeting to Saint Irene (my daughter’s patron saint) was 70 EUR.
For the flight back we were mid-weight but concerned about the take-off in the western variable wind @ 40C .
RWY 05 has a 230m-displaced threshold due to an elevated road in the approach. Due to westerly winds, I was mindful of potentially low take-off performance in the hot wx in the lee of the hill and thus elected to use rwy 05 for t/o despite a bit of a tailwind. This way, rather than taking off towards the elevated road, the take-off would be towards the river with no obstacles for at least 1.5 km (there is a bridge upriver, other than the one in the traffic pattern) . It ended up not being a problem although the promised mild windshear did materialize on climbout through 200ft .
There are also obstacles in the traffic pattern: mainly the bridge with pillars that continues onto the elevated road on final 05.
Other than the very poor city of Santarem, there is not much close by the airfield.
RH downwind 05 with the bridge and elevated road in view
Short final 05
The
ramp
Fatima/Giesteria disused airfield
Fatima: our goal fro the trip
Antonio wrote:
We had been at LPSR on our honeymoon 14 years back and it was a booming little airfield with a restaurant full of keen flyers at the weekend.
Well, 14 years ago was before the financial sh*it hit the fan…… I first flew on the Iberian peninsula in the late 90s and through the early noughties saw a great increase in GA activity. The Great Recession wiped that scene off the face of the Earth and although I haven’t been flying there recently, I somewhat doubt it’ll ever come back.
Nice report, Antonio. Thanks for posting it. I’ve never been to Portugal; need to rectify that one day 
Spain had the manic property and construction boom (the joke was: the national bird of Spain is the crane) fuelled by EU money pouring into a lot of pointless stuff, with wild corruption, and then a big bust and the GA scene there collapsed, but this is now many years ago. It was pretty well dead 10+ years ago, with abandoned planes everywhere. Like Italy, it is growing in the UL sector, largely below the radar I wonder if Portugal was the same?
Great trip and report @Antonio. Thanks for the airborne picture. Your last picture look so cute too. May your children be faithful to Our Lady of the Rosary.
I have been twice in Fatima and what the Portuguese built there is impressive. I have been in Lourdes too with a DA40, report is here
Other than Lourdes, I can recommend Chartres LFOR (been twice to the cathedral, which inside has been renovated) and La Salette via Gap LFNA (never been there).
I love your way of pilgrimage : GA + taxi We youngsters tend to walk a lot but I guess with age I will tend to do it your way.
Tell me if you come to Paris or Northern France !
Jujupilote wrote:
May your children be faithful to Our Lady of the Rosary.
Amen, thanks!
I love your way of pilgrimage : GA + taxi
Well, we did ask the taxi to drop us a mile from the complex at Fatima so we could walk the last bit backpacks in hand…does that count?
We also tried to stay away from 4 and 5-star hotels and picked one of the pilgrim homes (Nostra Sra do Carmo) to remain somewhat in-spirit (despite the GA+taxi bit) but ended up finding it was very high-quality and low-price!
Yes what they built at Fatima are very orderly, respectful, impressive and welcoming facilities for everyone, even more so than Lourdes.
Thanks for the recommendations. I will be travelling to Paris end-of the month. Will PM.
It took me 4 days to fly there from LGKO,back then in 2008
Short Final
Angolan reception lady living at the premises
Except the parachutist school one could find a pilots school ,Avgas (yessss) and the ubiquitus Mr Douarte helping for FPLs ,contacts and car rentals(3d from left)
