Nonstop flight route between Pukarua, Tuamotus, French Polynesia and Mountain View, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Pukarua Airport (PUK), Pukarua, Tuamotus, French Polynesia and Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ), Mountain View, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,971 miles (or 6,390 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 Pukarua 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 Pukarua 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 Pukarua Airport (PUK):

• Pukarua Airport (PUK) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Pukarua Airport", another name for PUK is "Aérodrome de Pukarua".
• The furthest airport from Pukarua Airport (PUK) is Abha Regional Airport (AHB), which is nearly antipodal to Pukarua Airport (meaning Pukarua Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Abha Regional Airport), and is located 12,415 miles (19,980 kilometers) away in Abha / Khamis Mushait, Saudi Arabia.
• The closest airport to Pukarua Airport (PUK) is Nukutavake Airport (NUK), which is located 134 miles (215 kilometers) WSW of PUK.

Facts about Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Post-Cold War defense cutbacks and related Base Realignment and Closure actions in the 1990s identified NAS Moffett Field for closure.
• 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.