Nonstop flight route between Mountain View, California, United States and Inverness, Scotland, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ), Mountain View, California, United States and Inverness Airport (INV), Inverness, Scotland, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,960 miles (or 7,982 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 Moffett Federal Airfield and Inverness 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 Moffett Federal Airfield and Inverness 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 Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ):

• The adjacent NASA Ames Research Center is also home to several wind tunnels, including the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, and the National Full-Scale Aerodynamic Complex.
• Because of Moffett Federal Airfield's relatively low elevation of 32 feet, planes can take off or land at Moffett Federal Airfield 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.
• The closest airport to Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) is Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NW of NUQ.
• The furthest airport from Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,365 miles (18,290 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Post-Cold War defense cutbacks and related Base Realignment and Closure actions in the 1990s identified NAS Moffett Field for closure.
• In 2006, an offer to clean the hangar and coat its outsides with solar panels to recoup the costs of cleaning was floated by a private company, but the plan never saw fruition because it was too costly.
• Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) has 2 runways.
• In 2008, the Ames Research Center leased 42 acres around the field to Google.

Facts about Inverness Airport (INV):

• Inverness Airport handled 608,184 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Inverness Airport (INV) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,631 miles (18,718 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Inverness Airport", another name for INV is "Port-adhair Inbhir Nis".
• Because of Inverness Airport's relatively low elevation of 31 feet, planes can take off or land at Inverness 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.
• International scheduled services proved difficult to successfully establish until the late 2000s, when a weekly seasonal service between Düsseldorf and Inverness commenced in Summer 2009, operated by Lufthansa CityLine, and in 2011 when Flybe commenced daily operations to Amsterdam.
• The closest airport to Inverness Airport (INV) is Kinloss Barracks (FSS), which is located only 19 miles (31 kilometers) ENE of INV.
• Inverness Airport (INV) has 2 runways.
• Improved bus services are now operating between Inverness Airport, Inverness and Nairn.