"It's not true I had nothing on, I had the radio on" - Marilyn Monroe
When I received my QSL for the NDB SC for Santa Cruz I asked Mr. Figueirado if you could also confirm my earlier report for NDB PD Ponta Delgada on 351 kHz that I didn’t receive an answer on. He was so kind by immediately sending me a reply, so this is my 3rd NDB QSL from the Azores. The contact adres for NAV Portugal is geral@nav.pt :
John Paul II Ponta Delgada Airport is the largest airport of the Azores, with scheduled flights to the US and Canada and many European countries.
While NDB FIL for Horta Airport on Faial Island is a signal that I pick up relatively easy here, I had never heard any of the other Azores beacons in a reportable quality. But during the last CLE event of the NDB list group I heard NDB SC for Flores Island Airport. My reception was confirmed by mr. Marco Figueiredo, Deputy Director of the Santa Maria (Azores) region of NAV Portugal. I sent my report to geral@nav.pt.
Mr. Figueiredo writes that the airport is nearby the town of Santa Cruz. Well, that is a bit of an understatement. The runway cuts of Santa Cruz from the rest of the island, and leaves only two roads along the edge of the cliffs open to access the town… one north, one south:
Wikipedia writes that the first need for an airport/airfield on the island of Flores was recognized as early as 1927 by the Marquis Francesco de Pinedo, colonel of the Italian Air Force, who was forced to land 200 km from the island of Flores, during his attempt to reach Newfoundland. His Savoia-Marchetti S.55 hydroplane was rescued by the Portuguese fishing boat Infantes de Sagres and towed to Horta where it was repaired.
But, it was only in 1972 that an airport was inaugurated on the island of Flores. It offers regional flights to the nearby Azores Islands.
I was really surprised to pick up a NDB signal from the Azores with considerable signal strength. Below you can see the Pskov recording (I added the morse code for clarity):
The email to QSL NDB FIL-380 near Horta on Faial Island indicates a power of 700W which, in combination with propagation over water, might explain why the signal came through so well.
I sent my report to geral@nav.pt which is the general email address for NAV Portugal, responsible for flight safety in Portugal and the Portugese Islands.
Horta airport is situated on Faial Island. The airport was established in 1971 and offers flights to nearby islands but also to Lisbon, Portugal. On the photo below you see the runway close to the sea and in the distance you see the volcano on nearby Pico island:
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