Nonstop flight route between Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand and Valdosta, Georgia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Chatham Islands (CHT), Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand and Moody Air Force Base (VAD), Valdosta, Georgia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,811 miles (or 12,570 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 Chatham Islands and Moody Air Force Base, 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 Chatham Islands and Moody Air Force Base. 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 Chatham Islands (CHT):

• Because of Chatham Islands's relatively low elevation of 43 feet, planes can take off or land at Chatham Islands 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 furthest airport from Chatham Islands (CHT) is Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport (MPL), which is nearly antipodal to Chatham Islands (meaning Chatham Islands is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport), and is located 12,410 miles (19,972 kilometers) away in Montpellier, France.
• The closest airport to Chatham Islands (CHT) is Hood Aerodrome (MRO), which is located 448 miles (722 kilometers) WNW of CHT.
• Chatham Islands (CHT) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 2012 The New Zealand Government announced plans to develop the airport as part of an overall Economic Plan for the Chatham Islands.
• The airport was completed in 1982 to replace an earlier built compacted grass airstrip at Te Hapupu that could only handle slow flying Safe Air Bristol Freighter aircraft.
• In addition to being known as "Chatham Islands", another name for CHT is "Tuuta Airport".

Facts about Moody Air Force Base (VAD):

• To inject more realism into the training, ATC made arrangements with Strategic Air Command to allow instructor pilots to fly intercept missions against SAC bombers with F-86D Sabre, With the addition of interceptor crew training and the acquisition of interceptor aircraft, HQ USAF decided effective 20 October 1953 to assign ATC responsibility for supporting Air Defense Command's interceptor forces.
• The closest airport to Moody Air Force Base (VAD) is Valdosta Regional AirportValdosta Army Auxiliary Airfield (VLD), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) SSW of VAD.
• While on standby status, the airfield was redesignated as Moody Air Force Base on 13 January 1948.
• The furthest airport from Moody Air Force Base (VAD) is Kalbarri Airport (KAX), which is located 11,363 miles (18,286 kilometers) away in Kalbarri, Western Australia, Australia.
• As a result of the August 1992 destruction of Homestead AFB, Florida by Hurricane Andrew, the 31st Fighter Wing's 307th and 308th Fighter Squadrons were initially evacuated to Moody AFB prior to the hurricane making landfall.
• Construction got underway on 28 July 1941 for a twin-engine advanced training base with accommodations for 4,100 men.
• In addition to being known as "Moody Air Force Base", another name for VAD is "Moody AFB".
• Following the end of the war, activity at Moody diminished to the point that 24 of the 93 A-26s had to be placed in flyable storage.