Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Ovar Air Base, known locally as Maceda, is a Portuguese Air Force facility near Ovar in the Aveiro District of Portugal, built around a single long hard-surfaced runway equipped with an ILS. It serves primarily as a logistical and exercise airfield rather than a home for permanently based squadrons, and is of interest to simulator pilots for its NATO exercise history and preserved historic aircraft.
Ovar Air Base (LPOV), also referred to as Maceda, is a Portuguese Air Force station situated near the town of Ovar in the Aveiro District of Portugal. It does not host any squadrons on a permanent basis, functioning instead mainly as a logistical military airfield, though it has also served as a venue for multinational exercises and is home to a small air museum, making it a distinctive stop for a virtual military or historical flight.
The base lies at Ovar, in the Aveiro District of Portugal, close to the settlement of Maceda, from which the airfield takes its informal name. As an operational Portuguese Air Force facility also used by NATO, it sits within military-controlled airspace.
Ovar has a single physical runway, 18/36, surfaced in hard standing and 7995 feet in length. Both ends are lit, and runway 36 is equipped with an ILS for instrument approaches.
Pilots should expect to work Approach on 118.6 MHz and Tower on 122.1 MHz.
Ovar Air Base has long functioned as a minor Portuguese Air Force airfield without permanently assigned squadrons, serving chiefly as a logistical station. It has nonetheless played host to notable NATO activity, including the Tigermeet gathering in 1987, and more recently the Hot Blade helicopter exercises, during which Belgian Air Force Agusta helicopters and Portuguese Air Force AW101 Merlins of 751 Squadron have operated from the base, including night missions flown under night-vision goggles. The base is also associated with 802 Squadron, known as "Águias" (Eagles). A small air museum, the Museu do Ar, preserves historic aircraft on site, including an F-84 that served with the USAF's 137th and 48th Fighter Bomber Wings, flew with the Skyblazers aerobatic team, and was later transferred to the Portuguese Air Force.
Ovar remains an operational resource of the Portuguese Air Force and NATO, used for logistics and periodic multinational exercises such as Hot Blade, and it hosts open-day displays by Portuguese Air Force squadrons. The Museu do Ar at the base displays historic airframes including a preserved F-84 and Tigermeet memorabilia. As an active military airfield, prior permission is required for any visiting flight.