Nonstop flight route between Polokwane, South Africa and Mountain View, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Polokwane International Airport (PTG), Polokwane, South Africa and Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ), Mountain View, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,512 miles (or 16,917 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 Polokwane International Airport and Moffett Federal Airfield, 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 Polokwane International Airport and Moffett Federal Airfield. 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 Polokwane International Airport (PTG):

• Polokwane International Airport (PTG) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Polokwane International Airport (PTG) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is nearly antipodal to Polokwane International Airport (meaning Polokwane International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hilo International Airport), and is located 12,031 miles (19,362 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
• The closest airport to Polokwane International Airport (PTG) is Air Force Base Hoedspruit (HDS), which is located 106 miles (171 kilometers) ESE of PTG.
• In addition to being known as "Polokwane International Airport", another name for PTG is "Gateway International Airport".
• Because of Polokwane International Airport's high elevation of 4,076 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at PTG. Combined with a high temperature, this could make PTG a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

Facts about Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ):

• 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.
• 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.
• Moffett Federal Airfield, also known as Moffett Field, is a joint civil-military airport located between southern Mountain View and northern Sunnyvale, California, USA.
• 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.
• Hangars #2 and #3 are some of the world's largest freestanding wood structures.
• Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• 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.
• Post-Cold War defense cutbacks and related Base Realignment and Closure actions in the 1990s identified NAS Moffett Field for closure.