Nonstop flight route between Pinellas County, Florida (near St. Petersburg and Clearwater), United States and Istres, France:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from PIE to QIE:
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- About this route
- PIE Airport Information
- QIE Airport Information
- Facts about PIE
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- Map of Nearest Airports to PIE
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- Map of Furthest Airports from PIE
- List of Furthest Airports from PIE
- Map of Nearest Airports to QIE
- List of Nearest Airports to QIE
- Map of Furthest Airports from QIE
- List of Furthest Airports from QIE
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE), Pinellas County, Florida (near St. Petersburg and Clearwater), United States and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,808 miles (or 7,737 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 St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base, 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 St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | PIE / KPIE |
Airport Name: | St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport |
Location: | Pinellas County, Florida (near St. Petersburg and Clearwater), United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 27°54'36"N by 82°41'15"W |
Area Served: | St. Petersburg / Clearwater, Florida |
Operator/Owner: | County of Pinellas |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 11 feet (3 meters) |
# of Runways: | 4 |
View all routes: | Routes from PIE |
More Information: | PIE Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | QIE / LFMI |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Istres, France |
GPS Coordinates: | 43°31'27"N by 4°56'30"E |
Operator/Owner: | Government of France |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 162 feet (49 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from QIE |
More Information: | QIE Maps & Info |
Facts about St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE):
- While most scheduled commercial airline traffic in the Tampa Bay Area uses Tampa International Airport, ten miles to the east, St.
- Because of St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at St. Pete–Clearwater International 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 St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE) is Clearwater Air Park (CLW), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NW of PIE.
- The 304th Fighter Squadron, a combat training unit of the 337th Fighter Group based P-40 Warhawks and, later, P-51 Mustangs at Pinellas Army Airfield for the duration of World War II.
- On June 6, 1982, Douglas C-47A N95C of Fromhagen Aviation was written off when the starboard engine failed on take-off on a training flight.
- The airport is home of Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, the largest and busiest U.S.
- The furthest airport from St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,426 miles (18,388 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
- St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport (PIE) has 4 runways.
Facts about Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE):
- On 31 March 1992, a Boeing 707 of Kabo Air, a Nigerian company, made an emergency landing at Istres after engines 3 and 4 had separated from the wing in turbulence at 35,000 feet.
- The furthest airport from Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (meaning Istres-Le Tubé Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,364 miles (19,898 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- C135FR "GRV 093 Bretagne"
- Because of Istres-Le Tubé Air Base's relatively low elevation of 162 feet, planes can take off or land at Istres-Le Tubé Air Base 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 "Istres-Le Tubé Air Base", another name for QIE is "Base aérienne 125 Istres (BA 125)Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) Y-17".
- Secondary users occasionally include the United States Air Force, during Allied operations engaging United States and France.
- The main USAAF use of Istres was by the 64th Troop Carrier Group, which operated C-47 Skytrain transports from the airfield from September to November 1944.
- The closest airport to Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) is Marseille Provence Airport (MRS), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) ESE of QIE.
- Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) currently has only 1 runway.