Nonstop flight route between Hawthorne, California, United States and St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hawthorne Municipal Airport (HHR), Hawthorne, California, United States and MoD St Athan (DGX), St Athan, Wales, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,347 miles (or 8,606 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 Hawthorne Municipal Airport and MoD St Athan, 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 Hawthorne Municipal Airport and MoD St Athan. 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 Hawthorne Municipal Airport (HHR):

• Hawthorne Municipal Airport (HHR) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Hawthorne Municipal Airport", another name for HHR is "Jack Northrop Field".
• The furthest airport from Hawthorne Municipal Airport (HHR) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,487 miles (18,486 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• The closest airport to Hawthorne Municipal Airport (HHR) is Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) WNW of HHR.
• During World War II the airfield was used by the United States Army Air Forces Air Technical Service Command as an aircraft modification center and Air Transport Command to ferry new aircraft to operational units.
• Because of Hawthorne Municipal Airport's relatively low elevation of 66 feet, planes can take off or land at Hawthorne Municipal 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 name Jack Northrop Field comes from the Northrop Aircraft Corporation founded by Jack Northrop, which for years designed, built and flew many classic airplanes, including flying wings, the P-61 Black Widow and the F-89 Scorpion night fighters, the F-5 Freedom Fighter, and the T-38 Talon jet trainer.

Facts about MoD St Athan (DGX):

• MoD St Athan (DGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from MoD St Athan (DGX) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,960 miles (19,248 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• The only squadrons to operate out of St Athan on a regular basis are the University of Wales Air Squadron, flying Grob Tutors and No 634 Volunteer Gliding Squadron using Vigilant T.1s.
• In 2006, the Special Forces Support Group was raised at St Athan and the Welsh Guards returned to London.
• The closest airport to MoD St Athan (DGX) is Cardiff Airport (CWL), which is located only 4 miles (6 kilometers) E of DGX.
• Because of MoD St Athan's relatively low elevation of 163 feet, planes can take off or land at MoD St Athan 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 March 2004, however, DARA announced the loss of 550 jobs at St Athan as part of streamlining to make DARA more efficient and better able to compete with the private sector for lucrative aircraft repair contracts, but also because they lost out to a direct RAF bid for a contract to upgrade the air force's fleet of ageing Harrier jump jet aircraft.
• Just before 1100 GMT on 11 February 2009, two Grob Tutor aircraft flying out of St Athan were involved in a mid-air collision in which two Air Training Corps cadets and their instructors, both RAF pilots, died.