Nonstop flight route between Helena, Montana, United States and Santa Ana, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Helena Regional Airport (HLN), Helena, Montana, United States and MCAS El Toro (NZJ), Santa Ana, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 943 miles (or 1,517 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 relatively short distance between Helena Regional Airport and MCAS El Toro, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Helena Regional Airport (HLN):

• Helena Regional Airport covers 1,224 acres at an elevation of 3,877 feet.
• In addition to being known as "Helena Regional Airport", another name for HLN is "Helena Army Airfield".
• The furthest airport from Helena Regional Airport (HLN) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,563 miles (17,000 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Helena Regional Airport (HLN) is Bert Mooney Airport (BTM), which is located 51 miles (83 kilometers) SSW of HLN.
• Helena Regional Airport (HLN) has 3 runways.

Facts about MCAS El Toro (NZJ):

• The base headquarters was established on November 4, 1942 and the first landing occurred in late November when a Major Micheal Carmichael, flying from Camp Kearny, was forced to make an emergency landing among the construction equipment.
• The closing of MCAS El Toro ignited a political firestorm over the eventual fate of the facility.
• The closest airport to MCAS El Toro (NZJ) is John Wayne Airport (SNA), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) W of NZJ.
• The furthest airport from MCAS El Toro (NZJ) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,486 miles (18,486 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• Those against the airport proposal were largely residents of the cities in the immediate vicinity of El Toro, such as Irvine, Lake Forest, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Dana Point, and Mission Viejo, where residents were alarmed at the idea of the aircraft noise.
• Before the site could be developed for civilian use, the Department of the Navy was required to perform environmental remediation to clean up contaminated soil on the site.
• MCAS El Toro (NZJ) has 5 runways.
• Because of MCAS El Toro's relatively low elevation of 383 feet, planes can take off or land at MCAS El Toro 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.