See the solitary structures that once helped aircraft stay on course

These solitary structures were once a key pillar of aviation navigation, but, due to their remote locations, today they are little known. Photographer Ignacio Evangelista’s starkly beautiful shots shine a light on the beacons, dubbed VORs (very high-frequency omnidirectional range stations), and their role in carving out routes in the sky for aircraft.

Essentially giant antennas, VORs beam out radio signals from secluded spots to allow planes to fix their location and stay on course by flying from VOR to VOR. The signals can be thought of as “breadcrumbs”, says Evangelista. The isolation is necessary to avoid interference in broadcasts between VORs.

Stations like the ones pictured here are a dying breed, as they are increasingly being decommissioned in favour of satellite-based GPS. But although GPS may be a more accurate means of navigation, VORs offer a back-up during events like solar storms or GPS interference, without which there could be a great deal of chaos, says Evangelista.

Because their locations are publicly available, anyone can seek out a remaining VOR simply by using GPS – a “curious technological pirouette”, as Evangelista puts it. This set him on course to document some of the more photo-worthy stations before they disappear for good.

Pictured from the top, the first two stations are in Spain – VOR NVS is on the edge of the village of Navas del Rey, 50 kilometres from Madrid, while VOR CMA is 1.5 km from the village of Calamocha. The last, VOR BRY, is on the edge of French village Bray-sur-Seine.