Nonstop flight route between Berlin, Germany and Lompoc, California, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GWW to VBG:
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- About this route
- GWW Airport Information
- VBG Airport Information
- Facts about GWW
- Facts about VBG
- Map of Nearest Airports to GWW
- List of Nearest Airports to GWW
- Map of Furthest Airports from GWW
- List of Furthest Airports from GWW
- Map of Nearest Airports to VBG
- List of Nearest Airports to VBG
- Map of Furthest Airports from VBG
- List of Furthest Airports from VBG
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW), Berlin, Germany and Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG), Lompoc, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,798 miles (or 9,331 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 Vandenberg 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 Royal Air Force Station Gatow and Vandenberg Air Force Base. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure 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 |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | VBG / KVBG |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Lompoc, California, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 34°43'57"N by 120°34'5"W |
View all routes: | Routes from VBG |
More Information: | VBG Maps & Info |
Facts about Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW):
- Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW) currently has only 1 runway.
- These aircraft were also used for reconnaissance missions in co-operation with The British Commander-in-Chief's Mission to the Soviet Forces of Occupation in Germany, commonly known as BRIXMIS.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- BEA moved to Tempelhof Airport in 1951, where most of West Berlin's commercial air transport operations were concentrated from then on.
- Alongside the Royal Air Force and various British civil aviation companies, the United States Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Royal New Zealand Air Force and the South African Air Force all flew supplies into RAF Gatow during the Airlift.
- During the Berlin Airlift, the Station was modernised with a 2,000 yards long concrete runway, using 794 German workers, in March 1947.
- The closest military neighbour to RAF Gatow was a tank unit of the National People's Army of East Germany.
- 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.
- 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.
Facts about Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG):
- In addition to being known as "Vandenberg Air Force Base", another name for VBG is "Vandenberg AFB".
- 30th Operations Group
- 576th Flight Test Squadron
- The furthest airport from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,479 miles (18,473 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
- The wing is organized into operations, launch, mission support and medical groups, along with several directly assigned staff agencies.
- Although the construction of Camp Cooke continued well into 1942, troop training did not wait.
- The closest airport to Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG) is Lompoc Airport (LPC), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) SE of VBG.