Nonstop flight route between Patuxent River, Maryland, United States and Zweibrücken, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NHK), Patuxent River, Maryland, United States and Zweibrücken Airport (ZQW), Zweibrücken, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,033 miles (or 6,491 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 Naval Air Station Patuxent River and Zweibrücken Airport, 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 Naval Air Station Patuxent River and Zweibrücken Airport. 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 Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NHK):

• The closest airport to Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NHK) is St. Mary's County Regional Airport (LTW), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) WNW of NHK.
• Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NHK) has 3 runways.
• Cooperation with the British also led to transatlantic visits to PAX River by RAF squadrons.
• Because of Naval Air Station Patuxent River's relatively low elevation of 39 feet, planes can take off or land at Naval Air Station Patuxent River 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.
• A lack of transportation in Saint Mary's County led the Navy to acquire and revitalize a branchline called theWashington, Brandywine and Point Lookout Railroad from Brandywine to Mechanicsville, Maryland in June 1942 and build an extension south from Mechanicsville to the air station.
• In addition to being known as "Naval Air Station Patuxent River", other names for NHK include "Trapnell Field" and "KNHK - FAA: NHK".
• Additional commands at NAS Patuxent River include Air Test Wing Atlantic and the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division.
• The furthest airport from Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NHK) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,728 miles (18,874 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In addition to its role in testing naval aircraft, during the 1950s to 1970s Patuxent River served as an operational base for a Transport Squadron - VR-1, a TACAMO squadron - VQ-4, Airborne Training Unit Atlantic - AEWTULANT, and VW-11, VW-13 AN VW-15 and a number of Patrol Squadrons including VP-8, VP-44, VP-49, VP-24, VP-30 and VP-68.
• The onset of American involvement in World War II spurred establishment of the new air station.Rear Admiral John Henry Towers, Chief of Bureau of Aeronautics, requested approval and authorization to begin construction on December 22, 1941.

Facts about Zweibrücken Airport (ZQW):

• Zweibrücken Airport can be reached via motorway A8 ) which leads to Saarbrücken and Luxembourg and from France directly via federal highway L700.
• In 2006, Germanwings began a new twice-daily service to Berlin Schönefeld Airport, but ceased them in 2011 due to expensive airports taxes.
• The furthest airport from Zweibrücken Airport (ZQW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Zweibrücken Airport (meaning Zweibrücken Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,021 miles (19,346 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Zweibrücken Airport handled 220,740 passengers last year.
• A twice per week service was also operated between Zweibrücken and Antalya by Sky Airlines until the airline ceased operations due to financial problems in 2013.
• Zweibrücken Airport (ZQW) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Zweibrücken Airport", another name for ZQW is "Flughafen Zweibrücken".
• The closest airport to Zweibrücken Airport (ZQW) is Saarbrücken Airport (SCN), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) W of ZQW.