REAL AEROCLUB DE MAHON

The entrance to the Aeroclub lies snugly between the Guardia Civil buildings and the Hippodrome, mid-way between Mahón and Sant Lluis. The bar is well known to the Choir, dancing clubs, the billiard club and others, providing ample space for weekly meetings or special celebrations and providing easy access and parking; but the actual aerodrome which spreads over 750,000 sqm has an interesting history.

The First Runway

The beginnings go back to 1939, nearly at the end of the Spanish Civil War when the first runway of Menorca was prepared over 850 m and constructed out of compacted earth and thereby suffering the inevitable problems of ‘determined vegetation’. This was a military runway with little activity for several years, but it provided an emergency landing for aircraft of various different nationalities that found themselves in difficulties during WWII. Most of these ended up lying there abandoned for years until finally being removed for scrap.

However, ten years later, in 1949, Aviaco started a regular weekly flight to Barcelona carrying passengers, post and cargo. It’s hard to imagine nowadays the Bristol 170 parked in front of a new terminal of 300 sq m while the two pilots and the hostess would wander over for a coffee between flights, the passengers carried their luggage out to the plane and cargo was dragged over on a wheelbarrow or pulled by a mule. It became obvious that improvements were needed to the runway especially when puddles from heavy rain caused a plane to veer off the runway onto rocks. Some 50 prisoners from La Mola were paid 2 pesetas per day to extend it by another 100 m, later followed by more compulsory purchase of land and by 1961 the runway stretched to a reasonable 1250m.

These were different times for flying. Imagine boarding your plane but then being asked to get off again as one engine wasn’t starting. You waited on the runway while the captain took off on one engine and watched as he managed to start the other while in the air, then returned to the runway still keeping the engines running and you were told to board again. A true story and all landed happily in Barcelona.

Tourism, as is so often the case, was the key to development in Menorca. By 1965 there were one million tourists coming to the Baleares, but a whopping 89% went to Mallorca, 9.4% to Ibiza and Menorca lagged well behind with only 1.3%. A serious lack of infrastructure was largely to blame, the limited facilities of the airport, only 2 hotels on the island, and lack of activities for tourists amongst other factors. The change began in 1969 when Horizon Holidays offered the novel idea of charter flights to Menorca, with hotel and activities included. The Director, Jim Maps did a brilliant job of inventing activities and entertainment to keep the British visitors happy and BEA flew here regularly. This was a key factor in the decision to build a new airport. So, in 1969 the new airport opened and the old aerodrome was offered, together with a small AISA taildragger plane to a group of aviation enthusiasts. The Aeroclub was born.

The Early Days

It was the then mayor, Gabriel Segui who negotiated with the military for the use of the land and runway and he became the first President of the Real Aeroclub of Mahón. But there were no pilots, fairly important, so it was arranged for an instructor to come over regularly from Mallorca to teach a few well-heeled Menorcans how to fly. Of this early group it was Dr Vicente Roca who subsequently went on to become an instructor and trained up (for free) many of the present pilots over the next 30 years or more. At first it seemed like an elitist group, but this changed to a very “normal” group of pilots who just loved to fly and during the first half of the 90’s it was at its peak with a lively social life and plenty of aeronautical activities and excursions such as flying all the planes to Reus or Igualada or Mallorca for a weekend away. It was much more relaxed then, without so many restrictions or controls as nowadays and no need to draw up a flight plan. Any evening or weekend you would find people around the hangar to chat to, and although fuel had to be obtained from the main airport, you could go off flying at the drop of a hat.

Recent Years

In the years that followed we’ve had Formula 1 using the runway for straight line testing and taking advantage of one of the longest runways in Europe for an aeroclub.

It’s 1,800m or a nautical mile long, (very useful when you are needing to improve your landing technique!).

We now have nearly 100 members and 4 planes of the Aeroclub plus 7 other privately owned planes in the hangars.

There have been visits from flying clubs that are united with a common plane such as the Cirrus or Diamond. There are clubs formed of ultralight aircraft with up to 40 aircraft flying in together and there have been air races and planes who include Menorca as part of their tour of Spain. We must not forget the visits from the Spanish Patrulla Aguila or the Red Arrows. The latter will once again be visiting in September and the Aeroclub as always will be hosting a reception for them and the local dignitaries. Throughout the summer months we have growing numbers of visiting light aircraft from all over Europe, and it is often a surprise to see so many planes of all shapes and sizes.

The Future

Since its inauguration in 1969 until the present day the Aeroclub has been owned by the Ministry of Defence who allowed us to make use of the facilities in exchange for maintaining them. Over the last few years their intention has been to sell, and following recent negotiations there is now an agreement between the military and the Consell Insular for the purchase of the land and installations. This is currently in the process of being finalized. This heralds a very positive step for the Aeroclub since our future is now more secure than it has been since 1969.

Learning to Fly in Menorca

f you’ve ever dreamt of going up in a light aircraft or maybe even to learn to fly, then you should get in touch with us. An Air Experience flight can be arranged with an experienced local pilot in a four seater Piper Archer and you can choose the duration, but 45 minutes or an hour is recommended.

If you are tempted by the idea of becoming a pilot, you can also ask for a trial flight with one of the english speaking instructors who will be happy to give you more details of the courses available, both practical and theory. We have two instructors who speak excellent English and an examiner, so courses are provided for new pilots to learn to fly for a PPL or LAPL, or also for ultralight aircraft with an instructor from Mallorca. The examinations can nowadays be done in English and all radio communications also, so although having a good level of Spanish is always useful, it’s not obligatory. Don’t hesitate to get in touch for prices or more details.

info@aeroclubmenorca.com or our website https://www.aeroclubmenorca.com/