Nonstop flight route between Mountain View, California, United States and Timbuktu, Mali:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ), Mountain View, California, United States and Timbuktu Airport (TOM), Timbuktu, Mali would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,993 miles (or 11,254 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 Timbuktu 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 Timbuktu 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):

• 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.
• Upon taking jurisdiction of Moffett Field, the Army took on the high cost of Hangar One's maintenance and wanted to inactivate the facility.
• 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.
• The US Navy is evaluating options for remediating the PCBs, lead and asbestos, and NASA is evaluating options for reuse of the hangar.
• 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.
• Hangars #2 and #3 are some of the world's largest freestanding wood structures.
• Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• Narrow gauge tracks run through the length of the hangar.
• On 1 July 1994, NAS Moffett Field was closed as a naval air station and turned over to the NASA Ames Research Center.

Facts about Timbuktu Airport (TOM):

• The furthest airport from Timbuktu Airport (TOM) is Yasawa Island Airport (YAS), which is nearly antipodal to Timbuktu Airport (meaning Timbuktu Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Yasawa Island Airport), and is located 12,400 miles (19,956 kilometers) away in Yasawa Island, Fiji.
• Timbuktu Airport (TOM) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Timbuktu Airport (TOM) is Goundam Airport (GUD), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) WSW of TOM.
• Because of Timbuktu Airport's relatively low elevation of 863 feet, planes can take off or land at Timbuktu 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 addition to being known as "Timbuktu Airport", another name for TOM is "Tombouctou Airport".