Nonstop flight route between Funchal, Madeira, Portugal and Marysville, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Madeira Airport (FNC), Funchal, Madeira, Portugal and Beale Air Force Base (BAB), Marysville, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,519 miles (or 8,882 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 Madeira Airport and Beale 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 Madeira Airport and Beale 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 Madeira Airport (FNC):

• Madeira Airport handled 2,311,380 passengers last year.
• The airport was once infamous for its short runway which, surrounded by high mountains and the ocean, made it a tricky landing for even the most experienced of pilots.
• Madeira Airport (FNC) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Madeira Airport", another name for FNC is "Aeroporto da Madeira".
• Funchal Airport is 13.2 km east-northeast of the regional capital Funchal.
• The furthest airport from Madeira Airport (FNC) is Lord Howe Island Airport (LDH), which is nearly antipodal to Madeira Airport (meaning Madeira Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Lord Howe Island Airport), and is located 12,181 miles (19,604 kilometers) away in Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, Australia.
• In 1972, the popularity of visiting the island of Madeira increased, so the runway had to be extended to allow modern and larger aircraft to land.
• Because of Madeira Airport's relatively low elevation of 190 feet, planes can take off or land at Madeira 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.
• The closest airport to Madeira Airport (FNC) is Porto Santo Airport (PXO), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) NE of FNC.

Facts about Beale Air Force Base (BAB):

• Beale AFB is the home of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing and located outside of Linda, about 10 miles east of the towns of Marysville and Yuba City and about 40 miles north of Sacramento.
• In 1948, Camp Beale became Beale AFB, its mission being to train bombardier navigators in radar techniques.
• In addition to being known as "Beale Air Force Base", another name for BAB is "Beale AFB".
• The closest airport to Beale Air Force Base (BAB) is Yuba County Airport (MYV), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) WSW of BAB.
• Camp Beale also housed a German POW camp, and served as the main camp for a series of satellite POW camps around northern California.
• The host unit at Beale is the 9th Reconnaissance Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command and part of Twelfth Air Force.
• On 8 February 1959, Strategic Air Command established Beale as an operational USAF base.
• On 16 May 1964, Defense Secretary McNamara directed the accelerated phaseout of the Atlas and Titan I ICBMs.
• On 1 July 1979, the 7th Missile Warning Squadron brought a PAVE Phased Array Warning System radar site to Beale, a Protection Level 1, 10-story structure that can detect possible attack by land-based and sea-launched ballistic missiles.
• The furthest airport from Beale Air Force Base (BAB) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,251 miles (18,107 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.