SPAIN - Menorca / San Luis

[David Thompson]

Off on holiday to Menorca later this month so did a bit of pre-flight research , as you do , and found this website about the resident Royal Mahon Flying Club ;

http://www.aeroclubmenorca.com/

No , I can't speak or read Spannish either but the video footage of the 'Refugios' at the bottom of the homepage also appears on youtube with other flying club footage shot in Menorca ;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=glLaXQ-2-es

If anyone knows of any other aviation/wartime military sites on the island worth visiting can they please post them up ?

[bvs]

Sorry cant help with aviation stuff David but I can recommend Cala D Algaiarens as a beautiful beach.
It is up on the NW coast,just east of Cala Morell,bit of a bu66er to get to and on private property so you have to pay to park (in season) -used to be 4euros.

Poppy car hire also recommended

[David Thompson]

Thanks for your prompt reply bvs , all good gen and very useful .
I've just been looking on GE and found a 'lateral del semaforo' NE of Menorca Town , out towards the coast and near what looks to be a sewage works !
There is a small landing strip at Son Morell , again on the NE coast and near to Calla Morell and from picture links it appears to be the home of a model flying club .

[bvs]

Sorry dont have any aviation knowledge at all for menorca but it is a lovely little island,my brief from the boss was to find a cheap snorkelling holiday,we were there last october and cala Algaiarens was the only beach completely clear of jellyfish,but I guess that was a seasonal thing.
Cuitadella is a nice old town to go eat etc,we did the Mahon harbour tour in the glass bottom cat...lots of history there and impressive fortifications - I think cala Turqueta (sp) was our other favourite...very pretty but Algaiarens is probably a little quieter.

rgds baz

[Daveg4otu]

There is this (rather ancient) thread on PPrune....
http://www.pprune.org/archive/index.php/t-182545.html

[Granite]

non-avaiation - but fantastic set of vickers coastal guns - http://www.panoramio.com/photo/24613424 - and the trip round la Mola fortress is well worth the effort.

[David Thompson]

Thanks for those Baz , Dave and er Granite ! It looks to be a well fortified island with some of them appearing from Google Earth to be from the Second World War and built upon the sites of even older fortifications ?

Some details on Wiki too ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Luis_Aerodrome

I was hoping that one of Christopher Shores excellent Mediterranean air war books might have covered the island but apparently not . Does anyone know of any book which has information relating to aviation on Menorca or the Balearic Islands ?

[bvs]

Just a few views David

Algaiarens Beach



Cala Turqueta



Cuitadella Harbour

[bvs]

Mahon (Mao) main terminal



Mahon Harbour



Es Grau area

[Slartibartfast]

Menorca has a lot of coastal fortifications dating from the Spanish civil war. Menorca held out to the advances of Franco for as long as they could, and were punished for doing so.

The only two airfields that I know of are the main commercial Airport and the former military one at Sant Lluis. The latter although still owned by the military is privately run as a flying club. If you fancy a flight in a two/four seater there are pilots who will be more than willing if you pay the aircraft rental. I paid 250€ for a four seater, for an hours trip around the Island.

If you want to visit any of the civil war fortifications you need to hire a car as most are on the coast away from the holiday resorts and may require a walk to get to them.

As bvs posted Poppycars www.poppycars.com comes highly recommended as does SolCars and AlphaCars All three are local company's and I have used all three over the years.

I've seen a site with quite a lot of these sites listed with locations and photos, If/when I remember the URL I'll post back.