Nonstop flight route between Fort Greely, Delta Junction, Alaska, United States and Valence, France:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from BIG to VAF:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- BIG Airport Information
- VAF Airport Information
- Facts about BIG
- Facts about VAF
- Map of Nearest Airports to BIG
- List of Nearest Airports to BIG
- Map of Furthest Airports from BIG
- List of Furthest Airports from BIG
- Map of Nearest Airports to VAF
- List of Nearest Airports to VAF
- Map of Furthest Airports from VAF
- List of Furthest Airports from VAF
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Allen Army Airfield (BIG), Fort Greely, Delta Junction, Alaska, United States and Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF), Valence, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,744 miles (or 7,635 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 Allen Army Airfield and Valence - Chabeuil Airport, 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 Allen Army Airfield and Valence - Chabeuil Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | BIG / PABI |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Fort Greely, Delta Junction, Alaska, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 63°59'43"N by 145°43'11"W |
Area Served: | Fort Greely, Alaska |
Operator/Owner: | United States Army |
Airport Type: | Public / Military |
Elevation: | 1291 feet (393 meters) |
# of Runways: | 3 |
View all routes: | Routes from BIG |
More Information: | BIG Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | VAF / LFLU |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Valence, France |
GPS Coordinates: | 44°54'56"N by 4°58'6"E |
Area Served: | Valence, Drôme, France |
Operator/Owner: | Department of Drôme |
Airport Type: | Public / Military |
Elevation: | 525 feet (160 meters) |
# of Runways: | 3 |
View all routes: | Routes from VAF |
More Information: | VAF Maps & Info |
Facts about Allen Army Airfield (BIG):
- Allen Army Airfield (BIG) has 3 runways.
- In addition to being known as "Allen Army Airfield", another name for BIG is "(former Big Delta Army Airfield)".
- Two runways are lighted and can accommodate heavy cargo aircraft year-round, including the C-141.
- The furthest airport from Allen Army Airfield (BIG) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,331 miles (16,625 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
- The closest airport to Allen Army Airfield (BIG) is Delta Junction Airport (DJN), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) N of BIG.
- Established in 1942 as Big Delta Army Airfield, it was named for river delta formed by the confluence of the Delta River and the Tanana River.
Facts about Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF):
- The closest airport to Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF) is Grenoble–Isère Airport (GNB), which is located 36 miles (57 kilometers) NNE of VAF.
- Twelfth Air Force combat engineers moved into Valence-Chabeuil Airport in late August 1944, and cleared the airport of mines and destroyed German aircraft.
- Because of Valence - Chabeuil Airport's relatively low elevation of 525 feet, planes can take off or land at Valence - Chabeuil Airport 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.
- In addition to being known as "Valence - Chabeuil Airport", other names for VAF include "Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) Y-23" and "Aéroport de Valence - Chabeuil".
- The airport was a pre-World War II French Air Force airfield.
- Used by the French Air Force base after the war, it was closed and today the airport is used for general aviation, with no commercial airline service.
- The furthest airport from Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Valence - Chabeuil Airport (meaning Valence - Chabeuil Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,333 miles (19,848 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF) has 3 runways.
- The Portez was a heavy twin-engined fighter.