Discover abandoned navigation aids that guided planes in the past

These isolated structures were once vital pillars of aviation navigation, but are little known today due to their remote location. Ignacio Evangelista’s The stunning shot highlights these beacons, known as VORs (Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range Stations), and the role they play in charting routes in the skies for aircraft.

VORs are essentially giant antennas that send out radio signals from remote locations to help planes locate and stay on course by flying from VOR to VOR. You can think of the signals as “breadcrumbs,” Evangelista says. The separation is necessary to avoid broadcast interference between VORs.

Stations like the ones mentioned here are disappearing as they are increasingly being replaced by satellite-based GPS, but while GPS is a more accurate means of navigation, VORs provide a backup during events like solar storms and GPS interference that could wreak havoc without them, Evangelista said.

Their locations are public, so anyone can find the remaining VORs simply by using a GPS — “an interesting technical gyre,” in Evangelista’s words — which prompted him to document some of the more photogenic stations before they disappear forever.

Seen from above, the first two stations are in Spain: VOR NVS, located on the edge of the village of Navas del Rey, 50km from Madrid, VOR CMA, 1.5km from the village of Calamocha, and the last one, VOR BRY, located on the edge of the French village of Bray-sur-Seine.