Nonstop flight route between Imperial Beach, California, United States and Valence, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Naval Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach (NRS), Imperial Beach, California, United States and Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF), Valence, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,969 miles (or 9,606 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 Naval Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach and Valence - Chabeuil 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 Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach and Valence - Chabeuil 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 Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach (NRS):

• In 1943, the present runways were built and construction on the installation’s buildings began, and on 17 July 1943 Naval Auxiliary Air Station Ream Field was commissioned.
• The furthest airport from Naval Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach (NRS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,552 miles (18,590 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• In addition to being known as "Naval Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach", another name for NRS is "Ream Field".
• Naval Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach (NRS) has 2 runways.
• In 1967, the oldest of the helicopter squadrons, HC-1, commissioned in 1948 at NAS Lakehurst, was divided into five different squadrons, HC-3, HC-5, HC-7, HAL-3 and HC-1 and brought on board at Imperial Beach.
• The closest airport to Naval Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach (NRS) is Brown Field Municipal Airport (SDM), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) E of NRS.
• The mission of NOLF Imperial Beach at the present time as described, is to handle the overflow of helicopter squadrons traffic both VFR and IFR, from North Island.

Facts about Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF):

• Because of Valence - Chabeuil Airport's relatively low elevation of 525 feet, planes can take off or land at Valence - Chabeuil 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.
• Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF) has 3 runways.
• Twelfth Air Force combat engineers moved into Valence-Chabeuil Airport in late August 1944, and cleared the airport of mines and destroyed German aircraft.
• The closest airport to Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF) is Grenoble–Isère Airport (GNB), which is located 36 miles (57 kilometers) NNE of VAF.
• After the forceful occupation of Vichy France in November 1942 as a result of Case Anton Wehrmacht units moved into the Valence area and the airport came under the control of the Luftwaffe.
• In addition to being known as "Valence - Chabeuil Airport", other names for VAF include "Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) Y-23" and "Aéroport de Valence - Chabeuil".
• The furthest airport from Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Valence - Chabeuil Airport (meaning Valence - Chabeuil Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,333 miles (19,848 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.