Nonstop flight route between Atwater, California, United States and Modesto, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Castle Airport (MER), Atwater, California, United States and Modesto City-County Airport (MOD), Modesto, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 27 miles (or 44 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 Castle Airport and Modesto City-County Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Castle Airport (MER):

• EPA investigations have been completed at multiple areas of contamination including landfills, discharge areas, chemical disposal areas, fire training areas, fuel spill areas, and polychlorinated biphenyl spill areas.
• It serves one school, Sierra Academy of Aeronautics, which specializes in training foreign pilots, from the People's Republic of China.
• Castle Airport is a public use airport located seven nautical miles northwest of the central business district of Merced, a city in Merced County, California, United States.
• The furthest airport from Castle Airport (MER) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,312 miles (18,204 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• With its central location in the San Joaquin Valley, on the route of the proposed California High-Speed Rail system, and with a large, underdeveloped site, Castle Airport has been submitted as a possible location for the central maintenance facility for the system.
• Because of Castle Airport's relatively low elevation of 191 feet, planes can take off or land at Castle 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.
• It was estimated that the cost to relocate the 129 RQW to Castle, to include associated military construction costs, could be recouped in seven years.
• Castle Airport (MER) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Castle Airport (MER) is Merced Regional Airport (MCE), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) SSE of MER.

Facts about Modesto City-County Airport (MOD):

• Scheduled passenger flights started in 1946 when United Airlines opened its new terminal and began the Valley Queen service.
• In addition to being known as "Modesto City-County Airport", other names for MOD include "Harry Sham Field" and "Modesto Auxiliary Airfield".
• Because of Modesto City-County Airport's relatively low elevation of 97 feet, planes can take off or land at Modesto City-County 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.
• In the 1990s corporate and business aviation became the fastest growing segment of activity for the airport.
• Modesto City-County Airport (MOD) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Modesto City-County Airport (MOD) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,314 miles (18,208 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• The closest airport to Modesto City-County Airport (MOD) is NASA Crows Landing Airport (NRC), which is located only 17 miles (28 kilometers) SSW of MOD.
• On June 4, 2014, SkyWest Airlines ceased its service to San Francisco leaving the airport with no scheduled passenger service.