Nonstop flight route between Berlin, Germany and Alpine, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW), Berlin, Germany and Alpine-Casparis Municipal Airport (ALE), Alpine, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,566 miles (or 8,958 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 Royal Air Force Station Gatow and Alpine-Casparis Municipal 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 Royal Air Force Station Gatow and Alpine-Casparis Municipal 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 Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW):

• During the Berlin Airlift, the Station was modernised with a 2,000 yards long concrete runway, using 794 German workers, in March 1947.
• Also on the site of the former RAF station, but not part of General-Steinhoff Kaserne, is a school, the Hans-Carossa-Gymnasium, and houses for government employees of the Federal Republic of Germany.
• 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 RAF Gatow Station Flight used two De Havilland Chipmunk T10s, one of which is now in the Alliiertenmuseum, to maintain and exercise the British legal right under the Potsdam Agreement to use the airspace over both West and East Berlin, as well as the air corridors to and from West Germany to the city.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Alpine-Casparis Municipal Airport (ALE):

• Alpine-Casparis Municipal Airport (ALE) has 2 runways.
• On July 4, 2010, a twin-engine Cessna 421 employed by O’Hara Flying Service II LP of Amarillo as an air ambulance, was en route to Midland, Texas when it crashed in a field one mile east of Alpine-Casparis Municipal Airport, killing all 5 on board.
• Because of Alpine-Casparis Municipal Airport's high elevation of 4,515 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ALE. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ALE a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Alpine-Casparis Municipal Airport (ALE) is Marfa Municipal Airport (MRF), which is located only 20 miles (32 kilometers) W of ALE.
• In addition to being known as "Alpine-Casparis Municipal Airport", other names for ALE include "none" and "E38".
• The furthest airport from Alpine-Casparis Municipal Airport (ALE) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,345 miles (18,257 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.