Nonstop flight route between Columbia, California, United States and Berlin, Germany:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from COA to GWW:
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- About this route
- COA Airport Information
- GWW Airport Information
- Facts about COA
- Facts about GWW
- Map of Nearest Airports to COA
- List of Nearest Airports to COA
- Map of Furthest Airports from COA
- List of Furthest Airports from COA
- 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 Columbia Airport (COA), Columbia, California, United States and Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW), Berlin, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,590 miles (or 8,997 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 Columbia Airport 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 Columbia Airport 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: | COA / |
| Airport Names: |
|
| Location: | Columbia, California, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 38°1'50"N by 120°24'51"W |
| Operator/Owner: | County of Tuolumne |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 2118 feet (646 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from COA |
| More Information: | COA 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 Columbia Airport (COA):
- Columbia Airport (COA) has 2 runways.
- In addition to being known as "Columbia Airport", other names for COA include "none" and "O22".
- The furthest airport from Columbia Airport (COA) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,273 miles (18,143 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
- The closest airport to Columbia Airport (COA) is Modesto City-County Airport (MOD), which is located 41 miles (65 kilometers) SW of COA.
Facts about Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW):
- RAF Gatow was from 1970 also used by the UKs Army Air Corps, 7 Aviation Flight AAC, later renamed 7 Flight AAC being based at the station initially flying four Westland Sioux and later three Aérospatiale Gazelle AH 1 helicopters.
- Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW) currently has only 1 runway.
- 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.
- 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.
- After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Chipmunk reconnaissance flights soon ceased and the two Chipmunks were flown to RAF Laarbruch, in Western Germany to await disposal action.
- During the Berlin Airlift, the Station was modernised with a 2,000 yards long concrete runway, using 794 German workers, in March 1947.
- Clues to the airfield's original use survive in the barrack block accommodation, each block of which was named after a famous German airman of the First World War, with the airman's bust above the entrance door.
- 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.
- The novel Air Bridge by Hammond Innes is partially set in RAF Gatow at the time of the Berlin Airlift, and is notable for its accurate descriptions of the Station, including corridors and rooms within it.
- 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.
- RAF Gatow was also used as a civilian airport for a limited time.
- The first landing by a Royal Air Force aircraft was by Avro Anson serial number PW698 on 2 July 1945 at 11.55 hours.
- 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.
