Nonstop flight route between Mountain View, California, United States and Vatry, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ), Mountain View, California, United States and Châlons Vatry Airport (XCR), Vatry, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,633 miles (or 9,065 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 Châlons Vatry 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 Châlons Vatry 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 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 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.
• The US Navy is evaluating options for remediating the PCBs, lead and asbestos, and NASA is evaluating options for reuse of the hangar.
• Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• 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.
• Hangars #2 and #3 are some of the world's largest freestanding wood structures.
• Moffett Federal Airfield has occasional air traffic, with an average of 5-10 flights landing per day.
• Post-Cold War defense cutbacks and related Base Realignment and Closure actions in the 1990s identified NAS Moffett Field for closure.
• On 1 July 1994, NAS Moffett Field was closed as a naval air station and turned over to the NASA Ames Research Center.
• As an aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Navy wanted to use the airship hangars at Moffett for blimp operations along with Pacific Coast.
• 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.

Facts about Châlons Vatry Airport (XCR):

• Because of Châlons Vatry Airport's relatively low elevation of 586 feet, planes can take off or land at Châlons Vatry 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.
• The furthest airport from Châlons Vatry Airport (XCR) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Châlons Vatry Airport (meaning Châlons Vatry Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,092 miles (19,461 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Châlons Vatry Airport (XCR) is Troyes - Barberey Airport (QYR), which is located 32 miles (52 kilometers) SSW of XCR.
• Châlons Vatry Airport (XCR) currently has only 1 runway.
• Construction began in 1953, and Vatry Air Base was designed for 50 fighters with three large hangars constructed.