Nonstop flight route between Springfield/Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States and Tours, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF), Springfield/Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States and Tours Val de Loire Airport (TUF), Tours, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,474 miles (or 5,591 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 Westover Air Reserve Base and Tours Val de Loire 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 Westover Air Reserve Base and Tours Val de Loire Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF):

• Physically, Westover is the largest Air Force Reserve base in the United States and will expand significantly over the next decade to further encompass Active and Reserve Component activities of the Navy, Marines, Army, and mainline Air Force functions from installations closed by the Base Realignment and Closure process.
• The furthest airport from Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,731 miles (18,880 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• With the establishment of the United States Air Force in September 1947, the name of Westover Field was changed to Westover Air Force Base on 13 January 1948.
• President Roosevelt signed a $750,000 Works Progress Administration project bill for the air base's construction in November 1939.
• Building at the base was constant throughout 1941.
• The closest airport to Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF) is Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport (BAF), which is located only 10 miles (15 kilometers) WSW of CEF.
• On 1 February 1946 Westover became an Air Transport Command base which meant that it was the terminus for air routes around the world.
• In addition to being known as "Westover Air Reserve Base", another name for CEF is "Westover ARB".
• Four-engine C-54 Skymaster and shorter-range C-47 Skytrain transports took supplies and reinforcements from Westover to the armed forces and returned with the wounded and discharged troops.
• During World War II Westover saw the training and formation of Airborne engineer aviation battalions to be used for rapidly establishing airfields in forward areas.
• Detonation in August 1949 by the Soviet Union of an atomic bomb spawned a new strategy in the military, calling for massive retaliation in the event of an attack.

Facts about Tours Val de Loire Airport (TUF):

• The furthest airport from Tours Val de Loire Airport (TUF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Tours Val de Loire Airport (meaning Tours Val de Loire Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,152 miles (19,557 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Tours Val de Loire Airport (TUF) is Angers – Loire Airport (ANE), which is located 49 miles (79 kilometers) W of TUF.
• In addition to being known as "Tours Val de Loire Airport", another name for TUF is "Aéroport Tours Val de LoireBase Aérienne 604Tours Val de Loire".
• The airport is home to around 40 Alpha Jets belonging to the French Air Force, as well as a couple of Mirage fighters as part of the Vigipirate defence plan.
• After World War II the airport was used by NATO and the US Air Force before becoming a flying school in the 1950s.
• Tours Val de Loire Airport (TUF) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Tours Val de Loire Airport's relatively low elevation of 357 feet, planes can take off or land at Tours Val de Loire 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.