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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between South Texas Regional Airport at Hondo (HDO), Hondo, Texas, United States and Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW), Berlin, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,473 miles (or 8,807 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 South Texas Regional Airport at Hondo 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 South Texas Regional Airport at Hondo 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:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about South Texas Regional Airport at Hondo (HDO):

• The closest airport to South Texas Regional Airport at Hondo (HDO) is Garner Field (UVA), which is located 36 miles (57 kilometers) WSW of HDO.
• The furthest airport from South Texas Regional Airport at Hondo (HDO) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,157 miles (17,955 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• After the mid-1970s the base housed a number of businesses, including a fiberglass-products plant, a greenhouse, a national guard armory, and the Medina Electric Cooperative.
• For the 12-month period ending January 20, 2012, the airport had 95,000 general aviation aircraft operations, an average of 260 per day.
• South Texas Regional Airport at Hondo (HDO) has 4 runways.
• The airport has its origins in 1942 with the establishment by the Army Air Corps of Hondo Army Airfield, and was used as a Navigator training base.
• Because of South Texas Regional Airport at Hondo's relatively low elevation of 930 feet, planes can take off or land at South Texas Regional Airport at Hondo 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.

Facts about Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW):

• 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 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.
• After the Berlin Blockade, RAF Gatow served as an airfield for the British Army's Berlin Infantry Brigade, and was prepared to revert to its role as a supply base, if another Berlin Airlift to West Berlin ever became necessary.
• The history of RAF Gatow and of western forces in Berlin from 1945 to 1994 is told in the Alliiertenmuseum, or the Allied Museum.
• 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.
• 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.
• RAF Gatow has the unique and unlikely distinction of being the base for the only known operational use of flying boats in central Europe, during the Berlin Blockade, on the nearby Großer Wannsee in the Havel river.
• Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW) currently has only 1 runway.
• In November 1948, the latest RAF transport aircraft, the Handley Page Hastings, was added to the squadrons flying into RAF Gatow and some aircrews and aircraft were redeployed to train replacement aircrews.
• 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.
• RAF Gatow was also used as a civilian airport for a limited time.
• 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.