Nonstop flight route between Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States and Atwater, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Pope Field (POB), Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States and Castle Airport (MER), Atwater, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,301 miles (or 3,703 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 relatively short distance between Pope Field and Castle Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Pope Field (POB):

• The closest airport to Pope Field (POB) is Simmons Army Airfield (FBG), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) ESE of POB.
• The USAF 440th Airlift Wing is a United States Air Force Reserve unit performs airfield operations to include airfield management, weather forecasting, airfield tower control, airfield navigation and landing systems’ maintenance.
• Original operations included photographing terrain for mapping, carrying the mail, and spotting for artillery and forest fires.
• Pope AFB is named after First Lieutenant Harley Halbert Pope who was killed on January 7, 1919, when the Curtiss JN-4 Jenny he was flying crashed into the Cape Fear River.
• The 464th provided airlift of troops and cargo, participated in joint airborne training with Army forces, and took part in tactical exercises in the United States and overseas.
• After the war, Pope Field became Pope Air Force Base with the creation of the United States Air Force on 18 September 1947.
• The furthest airport from Pope Field (POB) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,630 miles (18,716 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The 10th TRG was inactivated on April 1, 1949 and the host unit at Pope was the 4415th Air Base Group.
• The tempo of activities at Pope quickened with the outbreak of World War II.
• The 1930s saw the first major expansion of the facilities at Pope.
• During the Vietnam War, Pope was the destination for the bodies of servicemen killed in Southeast Asia.

Facts about Castle Airport (MER):

• It was estimated that the cost to relocate the 129 RQW to Castle, to include associated military construction costs, could be recouped in seven years.
• The furthest airport from Castle Airport (MER) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,312 miles (18,204 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Castle Airport (MER) currently has only 1 runway.
• The EPA currently has this base listed on their database due to the bulk wastes such as solvents, oils, fuels, and sludges which were disposed in pits at landfills around the base until 1977.
• The closest airport to Castle Airport (MER) is Merced Regional Airport (MCE), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) SSE of MER.
• Because of Castle Airport's relatively low elevation of 191 feet, planes can take off or land at Castle 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.
• It serves one school, Sierra Academy of Aeronautics, which specializes in training foreign pilots, from the People's Republic of China.