Nonstop flight route between Düne, Helgoland, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany and Visalia, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Heligoland Airport (HGL), Düne, Helgoland, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany and Visalia Municipal AirportVisalia Army Airfield (VIS), Visalia, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,443 miles (or 8,760 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 Heligoland Airport and Visalia Municipal AirportVisalia Army Airfield, 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 Heligoland Airport and Visalia Municipal AirportVisalia Army Airfield. 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 Heligoland Airport (HGL):

• A ferryboat service connects Düne to the Heligoland main island.
• Heligoland Airport (HGL) has 3 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Heligoland Airport", another name for HGL is "Flughafen Helgoland-Düne".
• Because of Heligoland Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Heligoland 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 airport is licensed for aeroplanes up to 5,700 kilograms maximum takeoff weight and helicopters up to 10,000 kilograms.
• The furthest airport from Heligoland Airport (HGL) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,693 miles (18,819 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• From 2005 to 2006, the main runway was extended from 400 m to 480 m for compliance with EU regulations on commercial air traffic.
• Heligoland Airport is a small airport on the German island of Düne, the smaller of the two isles of the Heligoland archipelago in the North Sea, about 70 kilometres from the mainland.
• The closest airport to Heligoland Airport (HGL) is Wangerooge Airport (AGE), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) S of HGL.

Facts about Visalia Municipal AirportVisalia Army Airfield (VIS):

• Visalia Municipal AirportVisalia Army Airfield (VIS) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Visalia Municipal AirportVisalia Army Airfield (VIS) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,355 miles (18,274 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• Visalia Municipal Airport covers 821 acres at an elevation of 295 feet above mean sea level.
• The closest airport to Visalia Municipal AirportVisalia Army Airfield (VIS) is Mefford Field (TLR), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) SSE of VIS.
• Because of Visalia Municipal AirportVisalia Army Airfield's relatively low elevation of 295 feet, planes can take off or land at Visalia Municipal AirportVisalia Army Airfield 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.
• In January 1944 the Headquarters, Army Air Forces ordered the entire Air University night fighter training program to California to be headquartered at Hammer Field.
• In all phases, Visalia AAF was used as a satellite training site.