Nonstop flight route between Santa Ana, California, United States and Taroa Island, Maloelap Atoll, Marshall Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MCAS El Toro (NZJ), Santa Ana, California, United States and Maloelap Airport (MAV), Taroa Island, Maloelap Atoll, Marshall Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,798 miles (or 7,721 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 MCAS El Toro and Maloelap 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 MCAS El Toro and Maloelap 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 MCAS El Toro (NZJ):

• MCAS El Toro (NZJ) has 5 runways.
• The battle between pro-airport and anti-airport groups dominated Orange County politics for much of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
• The land area originally taken by the air station is planned to be converted into a large recreational center, the Orange County Great Park.
• Because of MCAS El Toro's relatively low elevation of 383 feet, planes can take off or land at MCAS El Toro 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.
• Over the years, the VOCs had seeped into the groundwater, resulting in a plume of contaminated groundwater extending for three miles to the west of the station.
• The land originally surrounding the base was mostly at agricultural use when it first opened, but it the late 1980s and early 1990s, residential development started to begin in the area.
• In May 1942, Lieutenant Colonel William Fox was directed to select the sites for all of the Marine Corps' West Coast air stations.
• The closing of MCAS El Toro ignited a political firestorm over the eventual fate of the facility.
• The closest airport to MCAS El Toro (NZJ) is John Wayne Airport (SNA), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) W of NZJ.
• The furthest airport from MCAS El Toro (NZJ) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,486 miles (18,486 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• Those against the airport proposal were largely residents of the cities in the immediate vicinity of El Toro, such as Irvine, Lake Forest, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Dana Point, and Mission Viejo, where residents were alarmed at the idea of the aircraft noise.

Facts about Maloelap Airport (MAV):

• Maloelap Airport (MAV) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Maloelap Airport's relatively low elevation of 4 feet, planes can take off or land at Maloelap 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 closest airport to Maloelap Airport (MAV) is Kaben Airport (KBT), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) WNW of MAV.
• In addition to being known as "Maloelap Airport", other names for MAV include "Taroa Airfield" and "3N1".
• The furthest airport from Maloelap Airport (MAV) is RAF Ascension (ASI), which is nearly antipodal to Maloelap Airport (meaning Maloelap Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from RAF Ascension), and is located 12,049 miles (19,391 kilometers) away in Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena.