Sintra (Air Base no.1)

In september and October 2003, I was in a lucky position to pay a visit to the Força Aérea Portuguesa . Permission was granted by the the Portuguese Air Force to visit Sintra, Montijo, Beja and Monte Real. Unfortunately, the visit to Monte Real was cancelled due to operational reasons. On this page you can see several pictures that were made at Sintra. Three operational flying units are based at Sintra; 401 Squadron, 502 Squadron and 505 Squadron. Other units based at Sintra are the Academia da Força Aérea (Air Force Academy) and the Instituto de Altos Estudos da Força Aérea (Air Force Institute Command and Staff College).

A part of the flightline at Sintra. The hangers in the background are in use for maintenance of the Casa 212's. This hangar is also in use to park the Chipmunks and the aircraft of the museum.

A closer look at the "Push-pull" flightline. All the FTB-337G's are assigned to 505 Squadron "Jakarés" (Alligators).

A front view of an aircraft of 505 Squadron is seen here. It is taxiing on the taxiway on its way to the runway.

FTB-337Gl, 13710, is seen her taxiing to the runway. This aircraft can operate from short runways because of its STOL-capacity. (Short Take-Off and Landing). For take off it needs 125 meter and for landing 137 meter.

The wingspan of the FTB-337G is 12,1 meter. Maximum cruising altitude is 7620 meter.

The FTB-337G recieved its nickname because of the layout of the two turbo compressed Continental or Rolls-Royce engines of 225 Hp each.

401 Squadron "Cientistas" (Scientists) operates both variants of the Casa 212 (C.212-100 and C.212-300). They execute air reconnaissance missions and also maritime surveillance and electronic warfare missions.One of the two Casa C.212-300's is this example, the 17202.

Casa C-212-100, serial 16505, is seen here taxiing on its way to the runway. This aircraft is assigned to 502 Squadron "Elefantes" (elephants).

Another Casa C.212-100, the 16512, is leaving Sintra.

The Academia da Força Aérea (Air Force Academy), use the good old Chipmunk Mk.20 for selection and elementary training of the cadets. Chipmunk Mk.20, serial 1316, is seen here leaving for an examination flight.

A nice view of a Chipmunk on its way to the runway.

Another Chipmunk Mk.20, serial 1335, is seen here taxiing.

Several aircraft are preserved at Sintra, one of them is this T-37C, serial 2430, wearing the "Asas de Portugal" color scheme.