Aviation in the Azores

The Aviation in the Azores is part of the greater history of aviation in Portugal, and involves the historical use of the archipelago of the Azores by North American, South American and European pioneers of aviation. The Azores is strategically located in the centre of the North Atlantic Ocean between the continents of North America and Europe, and has played a historical role in trans-Atlantic navigation. The three primary airfields of the Azores are:

Due to the relative distance between the islands of the archipelago, aviation is in many instances more viable than boat transportation, with inter-island flights being a crucial part of the Azorean infrastructure.

The city of Horta was bombarded by on December 1916, and the following year the city was shelled by the German U-boat SM U-155 on 4 July 1917.

With the U.S. entry into the First World War the previous year, American naval forces occupied and operated a naval base in Ponta Delgada, consisting of a few Curtiss HS2L hydroplanes, 150 infantrymen, two pieces of artillery, some ships and submarines. The first of the contingent began patrolling on 23 February 1918, alongside the São Brás Fort in Ponta Delgada. Their mission was to identify and combat German submarines that tracked merchant shipping in the Atlantic, and protect the waters of the Azores.

Even during the conflict, and following its events, the Portuguese Navy already projected the installation of a permanent naval air station in Horta (Portuguese: Centro Aero-Naval), which never materialized. Similarly, in 1919, the British Royal Air Force planned the possibility of acquiring one of the Portuguese islands in the Azores, to install a terrestrial base to provide support to air operation in the mid-Atlantic.

During the inter-war years, trans-Atlantic competition persisted between British and American entrepreneurs; the London-based Daily Mail promoted a competition worth £10,000, to the aviator who was able to cross the Atlantic non-stop, within 72 consecutive hours, between the United States, Canada or Newfoundland to any point in Great Britain or Ireland. In this context, three four-engine hydroplanes of the American Navy attempted the first non-stop trans-Atlantic crossing between 16–17 May 1919. Two of the planes (NC-1 and NC-3) made emergency landings near Flores: NC-1 was completely damaged, while the NC-3 was able to continue to Ponta Delgada (by 19 May), but unable to complete the journey. NC-4, under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Albert Cushing Read was able to survive the attempt, stopping in the Bay of Horta on 17 May, and continuing to Ponta Delgada (where he stopped on 20 May). After a week of rest, the team left on the morning of 27 May in the direction of Lisbon, arriving in the capital in the evening and anchoring in the Tagus River.

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