…and the calima is back… Winds blowing from Africa bringing hot, dry air with lot’s of sand covering the islands.
This can be perfectly seen on this satelite image by Copernicus EU (I’m not flying that high yet lol…)
But I was “lucky” enough to be flying these days and to get above the calima layer to get get some “fresh air” and some better views. I have to admit the view from above was pretty impressive. Well, this layer reached almost 6.000-7.000 feet and mostly causes some breathing issues to the part of the population.
Since 2007 I was flying around the Canary Islands, but it took me almost 16 years to manage to visit the smallest islands situated northwest of Lanzarote: Isla de Alegranza and Isla de Montaña Clara. Yes, it took a lot of time…
These are some perks of this job. The diameter of the crater at Alegranza is 1.1kms. And is the biggest (=widest) crater of the Archipiélago.
In the past these islands could have been visited by boat, unfortunately it’s not allowed anymore.
More information about these islands can be found on wikipedia:
After visiting the closed aerodrome “El Revolcadero” at La Gomera, I did mention that my next stop will be at Breña Alta, to explore the former La Palma’s aerodrome.
So here it comes. Unfortunately there is not much to see around. A road is passing on the former runway and the terminal building and the tower are not accesible.
Aeropuerto Viejo “Breña Alta”, La Palma
The elevation of the aerodrome is 1.3700 feet and is surrounded by mountainous terrain, which I think was the cause why the aerodrome was closed. When clouds start to form, visual approach into this airport could become pretty complicated or maybe impossible.
The aerodrome was opened in 1955 and served until 1970. Initaly I didn´t have any relative information about the runway length, nor designation; but thanks to Claudio Sánchez added on Twitter some value information and now we know that the runway designators were 03-21.
The former tower
The Tower building looks to be still in a pretty good shape, considering it was closed for more than 50 years. Unfortunately the access was blocked, so it’s not possible to climb up to enjoy the “old airport” views.
The old terminal building at Breña Alta
The terminal building doesn´t look that bad either. But again, it’s not accesible. All doors and windows have been blocked.
Threshold of the former runway 03 at Breña Alta airport
And how about the runway? Well, on Google Maps you can clearly see that once there was a runway, now a road is passing on it.
Tried to measure the length of the runway on my Foreflight App and i’m getting a bit less than 1km of runway. As I don’t know where it exactly started and finished, it’s difficult to say how long it exactly was.
The length of the runway as measured on the Foreflight appAeropuerto Viejo “Breña Alta”, La PalmaThere is a road now on the former runwayOn the former runway at Breña Alta
At least you can drive on the runway. Should have paid attention to the distance the car would have measured to know the exact length. And I think I did it, but forgot the note it somewhere…
Looks like the old apron with the former tower in the bushes
And this image looks like the apron just in front of the tower and terminal building.
Well, that’s it folks! A piece of history, pity they didn’t make anything special of it. But it seems there were a lot’s of problems with the ground and properties. But this would be something for a “non aeronautical post”, which is not the subject of my blog.
Usually don’t fly very often to Lanzarote, but on this occasion also the weather was playing with and when we flew around the National Parc and around the volcanoes, I simply couldn’t resist to take some shots of this amazing volcanic landscape.
This one is called Caldera Blanca, and it feel like we are about to land on the Moon or Mars…
Yesterday the weather was fantastic and we took of early from Tenerife south airport on our training flight toward the island La Palma. As there was not much traffic, we decided to practice with the student the SID (standard instrumental departure) and the arrival into La Palma.
Even though that we operate under visual flight rules, we can request simulated instrument departure or arrival and simulate it under VMC. We briefed the procedures with my student and requested the simulation.
We did the Araco 4E departure followed by the NDB36 into La Palma airport as you can see on the image from Flightradar24. It was a very good practice. After we took off from La Palma again, we flew around the island and enjoyed some spectacular views of the landscape.
Enjoy some more images from the journey.
Tenerife during our early morning departure from Tenerife South airportTenerife during our early morning departureAraco 4E departureOur flown trackNDB Approach into La PalmaFlying simulated NDB approach into La PalmaFinal RWY 36 with almost calm windsJet blast warning signSanta Cruz de La PalmaLos Tilos, La PalmaFaro de Punta CumplidaImagine to live here… Volcán Tajogaite is still smoking… 🌋Aerial view of La Palma
La Gomera’s former aerodrome El Revolcadero was closed so far for more than 25 years. The visit of this place has been on my bucket for more than 7 years, and now I finally decided to move on and make it happen. Just wanted to travel back in time and see how it looked liked there some 30 years ago.
The aerodrome was officially opened on the 24th of April 1959 and the first plane landed on the aerodrome was a Piper PA23-160 Apache (EC-ALQ), which landed at El Revolcadero on the 15th of July 1959.
El Revolcadero aerodrome, La Gomera
The runway was 500m long and at both ends it counts with up-sloping “stopways” helping the planes to slow down after the landing and most probably to help to gain speed during the initial take off run as well.
El Revolcadero aerodrome, La Gomera
The runway designation was 27/09, same as the new airport which can be seen on the next cliff behind the old aerodrome.
El Revolcadero aerodrome, La Gomera
The aerodrome (still) counts with a small hangar, tower and a small power plant building.
The old tower at El Revolcadero aerodrome, La GomeraThe old tower at El Revolcadero aerodrome, La GomeraViews from the old tower at El Revolcadero aerodrome, La GomeraThreshold Runway 27 at El Revolcadero aerodrome
It’s just a fascinating piece of history, you just need to imagine that people were passing during years through the airport.
Hangar at El Revolcadero airfield, La GomeraInside the hangar at El Revolcadero airfield, La Gomera
During the last years I flew a lot of times by, and need to admit that I’d love to land at the aerodrome or to see again some signs of “life” there.
The place, where the time stands still… Quiet… Visited by some curious tourists now and then, and by the goats.
Goats seem to be the only passengers…
Unfortunately, there is not much information to be found about this aerodrome on internet, nor images of the planes at the aerodrome, nor the date when it was closed. But definitely at least some 25 years ago, as the new airport started their operations back in 1999.
So enjoy some more images and the video of this experience, and for those who’d like to know how to get to El Revolcadero, you can find it here.
El Revolcadero aerodrome, La GomeraAerial view at the hangar at El RevolcaderoEl Revolcadero aerodrome, La GomeraEl Revolcadero aerodrome, La GomeraDebris on the runwayEl Revolcadero aerodrome, La GomeraEl Revolcadero aerodrome, La GomeraRunway at El Revolcadero aerodrome, La GomeraThreshold Runway 27 at El Revolcadero aerodromeLooking at the tower from the power stationThe old tower at El Revolcadero aerodrome, La GomeraThe old tower at El Revolcadero aerodrome, La GomeraThe old tower at El Revolcadero aerodrome, La GomeraThe old tower at El Revolcadero aerodrome, La GomeraHangar at El Revolcadero airfield, La GomeraInside the hangar at El Revolcadero airfield, La GomeraEl Revolcadero, La GomeraHangar at El Revolcadero airfield, La GomeraThreshold RWY 09 at El Revolcadero airfieldWalking down to El Revolcadero airfield at La GomeraEl Revolcadero aerodrome, La GomeraThis is what left from the access road to El Revolcadero aerodrome
It’s been a while since my last post… In the coming weeks I’ll post some updates about the news from the last months… 🙂
If you ever wondered what the expression “Death Grip” means, here is the visual answer for this :-). When I took this image, this expression just came through my mind, so here it comes!
However, in aviation this means that the pilot is squeezing the yoke very hard while flying the airplane. This happens to a lots of pilots, especially when you fly a plane for the first time, or you don’t feel very comfortable.
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