Nonstop flight route between Lompoc, California, United States and Berlin, Germany:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from VBG to GWW:
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- About this route
- VBG Airport Information
- GWW Airport Information
- Facts about VBG
- Facts about GWW
- Map of Nearest Airports to VBG
- List of Nearest Airports to VBG
- Map of Furthest Airports from VBG
- List of Furthest Airports from VBG
- Map of Nearest Airports to GWW
- List of Nearest Airports to GWW
- Map of Furthest Airports from GWW
- List of Furthest Airports from GWW
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG), Lompoc, California, United States and Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW), Berlin, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,798 miles (or 9,331 kilometers).
A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Vandenberg Air Force Base and Royal Air Force Station Gatow, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.
Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Vandenberg Air Force Base and Royal Air Force Station Gatow. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | VBG / KVBG |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Lompoc, California, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 34°43'57"N by 120°34'5"W |
View all routes: | Routes from VBG |
More Information: | VBG Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | GWW / EDBG |
Airport Name: | Royal Air Force Station Gatow |
Location: | Berlin, Germany |
GPS Coordinates: | 52°28'27"N by 13°8'17"E |
Operator/Owner: | formerly: Ministry of Defence, now: Bundeswehr |
Airport Type: | Military (airport no longer in operation) |
Elevation: | 161 feet (49 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from GWW |
More Information: | GWW Maps & Info |
Facts about Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG):
- The host unit at Vandenberg AFB is the 30th Space Wing.
- With the establishment of a separate Air Force in September 1947, Vandenberg became its first vice chief of staff under General Carl Spaatz, and succeeded him on 30 April 1948.
- 1st Air and Space Test Squadron
- The closest airport to Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG) is Lompoc Airport (LPC), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) SE of VBG.
- Although the construction of Camp Cooke continued well into 1942, troop training did not wait.
- The furthest airport from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,479 miles (18,473 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
- 21st Space Operations Squadron
- In addition to being known as "Vandenberg Air Force Base", another name for VBG is "Vandenberg AFB".
Facts about Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW):
- The closest airport to Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW) is Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) NE of GWW.
- The furthest airport from Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,694 miles (18,819 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- Known for most of its operational life as Royal Air Force Station Gatow, or more commonly RAF Gatow, this former British Royal Air Force airfield is in the district of Gatow in south-western Berlin, west of the Havel river, in the borough of Spandau.
- To commemorate Australian participation in the Airlift, the Royal Australian Air Force presented RAF Gatow with a retired Douglas Dakota in the 1980s, to use as a gate guardian.
- Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW) currently has only 1 runway.
- Because of Royal Air Force Station Gatow's relatively low elevation of 161 feet, planes can take off or land at Royal Air Force Station Gatow at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
- The General-Steinhoff Kaserne is also home to the Luftwaffenmuseum der Bundeswehr, the museum of the Air Force which has many displays and much information on German military aviation and the history of the airfield.
- Alongside the Royal Air Force and various British civil aviation companies, the United States Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force and the South African Air Force all flew supplies into RAF Gatow during the Airlift.
- These aircraft were also used for reconnaissance missions in co-operation with The British Commander-in-Chief's Mission to the Soviet Forces of Occupation in Germany, commonly known as BRIXMIS.