Only 3 years after the initial flight of the Aeronautical Military School, the first of its kind in Portugal, in the summer of 1919 the Airfield - or "Landing Field of Ponte de Sor” - was inaugurated.
The initiative of the work came from the Portuguese Army, which on March 10, 1919, asked the Ponte de Sor Town Hall if a portion of land could be obtained to be ceded or sold to the Portuguese State. The goal was to build an "aviation center" with the following characteristics: "Area of 31 hectares conform, when possible square; health conditions for airplane crews' housing, water, communication routes and near the railway line; flat and without large ditches or trees".
The geographical centrality of Ponte de Sor, located between north and south, but also between the Portuguese coast and the interior, combined with the access to the railroad and the smooth orography of the territory, were the main reasons for this choice.
A close link was then established between Ponte de Sor, the local population (the Pontessorenses) and Portuguese aviation, which would last for almost two decades. The local newspaper A Mocidade described the "festive day" that was the inauguration of the field:
"In the landing field there was a sea of people. And when the airplanes, after some evolutions, slid on the track, rockets and mortars festively exploded (...). Surrounding the airplanes was a tangle of curious people. And all looked in awe, with a certain trepidation, to those strange machines that climbed the heights and pretended to dive, or swirled on their own." (No. 263, September 25, 1937).
Throughout the 1920s airplanes were frequently landed at Ponte de Sor and, although less frequently, a number of aeronautical shows were held. We can highlight, for example, the arrival of the Aviation Squadron Group "Républica", the first operational air unit of the Portuguese Armed Forces, in June 1920; or the participation of four Avro aircraft of the Tancos squadron, in an exercise where they executed "Risky acrobatic exercises", in April 1929.
The enthusiasm of the population seems to have been exuberant, with sources from the era pointing out the crowds that came to the airfield in "constant pilgrimage." In fact, many Pontessorenses had the opportunity to perform their flight baptism, for example when the Farman-Titan commercial flight arrived on the eve of the pilgrimage to the Hermitage of Our Lady of Pleasures, in August 1929.
1919 > March 10
Request by the military authorities to Ponte de Sor City Hall concerning the land for the installation of an aviation center
1919 > May 23
The newspaper O Século reports about the beginning of the landscaping for an airfield in Ponte de Sor
1919 > August 7
Request to the Directorate of Military Aeronautics for some airplanes to inaugurate the Aviation Field on August 31, as part of the festivities in honor of the Pontessorenses that fought in World War I
1919 > September 15
Vote of praise to Captain António Batista de Carvalho for the efforts employed in the establishment of the Aviation Field
1920 > June 21
Military aircraft is ordered to land in the countryside on the occasion of the festivities of June 29
AHMPS, photographic collection
1922 > July 18
The Directorate of Military Aeronautics encourages the Ponte de Sor City Council to create a landing field [...}
1922 > September 2
The Directorate of Military Aeronautics asks the Ponte de Sor Town Council to guarantee [...]
1926 > October 2
The Council Administrator suggests that the International Airstrip be moved to the Ponte de Sor airfield
1927 > September 16
The Aeronautical Branch Inspection again requests that the Ponte de Sor City Hall makes changes to the field, as a condition of its functionality
1927 > September 19
Responding to the request by the Aeronautical Branch Inspection, the Ponte de Sor City Council decides to make improvements in the field
1928 > June 18
The Ponte de Sor Town Hall requests permission to cut the grove around the Field, as it is an obstacle to aviation
1928 > September
First reference to the idea of creating an aviation school in the airfield
1929 > April 21
Four Avro aircraft of the Tancos squadron land on a training trip, and one of them performs acrobatic maneuvers before the population
1929 > August 14
It is anticipated that the Farman-Titan commercial airplane, which will carry out «propaganda flights», will land in the airfield
1931 > February
Visit of the director of the Military Public Works Service to the Field [...]
1931 > May
The Military Public Works Service asks the City Council to carry out improvement work in the Field
1931 > June
The Military Public Works Service insists on the need for the City Council to carry out improvement work on the field and the owner of the land will go to Lisbon to deal with the matter
1932 > March 23
Information Aviation Group #1 requests the attention of the City Hall to the aerodrome
1935 > March
A military plane, on a mission to map the aeronautical chart, lands in the airfield
1937 > September 25
Article from the local newspaper A Mocidade calls attention to the importance of the field, less and less used
1937 > Outubro
Several devices involved in military maneuvers in the Alto Alentejo and based in Sousel [...]
1938 > April
The small size of the Field precludes the expected landing of the Bombardment Group aircraft