Nonstop flight route between Mercury, Nevada, United States and Breda, Netherlands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Desert Rock Airport (DRA), Mercury, Nevada, United States and Gilze-Rijen Air Base (GLZ), Breda, Netherlands would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,379 miles (or 8,656 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 Desert Rock Airport and Gilze-Rijen Air 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 Desert Rock Airport and Gilze-Rijen Air 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 Desert Rock Airport (DRA):

• In addition to being known as "Desert Rock Airport", another name for DRA is "NV65".
• The furthest airport from Desert Rock Airport (DRA) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,271 miles (18,139 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Desert Rock Airport (DRA) is Creech Air Force Base Indian Springs Auxiliary Army Airfield (1961) Indian Springs Air Force Base (1951) Indian Springs Army Airfield Indian Springs Airport eponyms: Indian Springs, Nevada &Wilbur L. Creech[1] (INS), which is located only 20 miles (32 kilometers) E of DRA.
• Desert Rock Airport (DRA) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Gilze-Rijen Air Base (GLZ):

• In 1940, the airfield came under heavy attack from the German Luftwaffe, who later took control of the base and expanded it for their own use.
• Because of Gilze-Rijen Air Base's relatively low elevation of 49 feet, planes can take off or land at Gilze-Rijen Air Base 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 Gilze-Rijen Air Base (GLZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,897 miles (19,146 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Gilze-Rijen Air Base (GLZ) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Gilze-Rijen Air Base (GLZ) is Eindhoven Airport (EIN), which is located 21 miles (33 kilometers) ESE of GLZ.
• In addition to being known as "Gilze-Rijen Air Base", another name for GLZ is "(Advanced Landing Ground B-77)".
• In 1995, as a part of a large scale reorganistaion within the Royal Netherlands Air Force, the fighter aircraft were moved from Gilze-Rijen, and instead the base became the home of Bolkow BO-105 helicopters.