Nonstop flight route between Merville / Calonne, France and Springfield/Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Merville - Calonne Airport (HZB), Merville / Calonne, France and Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF), Springfield/Chicopee, Massachusetts, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,472 miles (or 5,588 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 Merville - Calonne Airport and Westover Air Reserve 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 Merville - Calonne Airport and Westover Air Reserve Base. 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 Merville - Calonne Airport (HZB):

• Because of Merville - Calonne Airport's relatively low elevation of 61 feet, planes can take off or land at Merville - Calonne 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.
• Merville – Calonne Airport is a regional airport in France.
• The furthest airport from Merville - Calonne Airport (HZB) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,965 miles (19,255 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Originally built by Germans as a Luftwaffe airfield as part of the defensed of the Pas de Calais area.
• Merville - Calonne Airport (HZB) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Merville - Calonne Airport", other names for HZB include "Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) B-53" and "Aéroport de Merville - Calonne".
• The closest airport to Merville - Calonne Airport (HZB) is Lille Airport (LIL), which is located only 20 miles (32 kilometers) E of HZB.

Facts about Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF):

• With the establishment of the United States Air Force in September 1947, the name of Westover Field was changed to Westover Air Force Base on 13 January 1948.
• In addition to being known as "Westover Air Reserve Base", another name for CEF is "Westover ARB".
• The furthest airport from Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,731 miles (18,880 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Physically, Westover is the largest Air Force Reserve base in the United States and will expand significantly over the next decade to further encompass Active and Reserve Component activities of the Navy, Marines, Army, and mainline Air Force functions from installations closed by the Base Realignment and Closure process.
• The first organization at the base was the 10th Signal Platoon in June 1940.
• The closest airport to Westover Air Reserve Base (CEF) is Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport (BAF), which is located only 10 miles (15 kilometers) WSW of CEF.
• Detonation in August 1949 by the Soviet Union of an atomic bomb spawned a new strategy in the military, calling for massive retaliation in the event of an attack.
• Westover was also the launching point of the heroic Berlin Airlift for 327 days during the Soviet blockade.