Nonstop flight route between Istres, France and Camp Springs, Maryland, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France and Andrews Field (ADW), Camp Springs, Maryland, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,090 miles (or 6,582 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 Istres-Le Tubé Air Base and Andrews Field, 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 Istres-Le Tubé Air Base and Andrews Field. 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 Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE):

• Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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".
• The base also hosts a helicopter squadron and a large repair and training facility.
• Sometime after World War II, until May 1958 Base Aérienne 125 was host to the Royal Air Force Liaison Party, that serviced transient British and Commonwealth military aircraft staging to and from the United Kingdom.
• 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.

Facts about Andrews Field (ADW):

• The furthest airport from Andrews Field (ADW) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,691 miles (18,815 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The host unit at Andrews is the 11th Wing, assigned to the Air Force District of Washington.
• In the late 1950s Andrews began an annual open house and air show on base.
• In October 1977, the 76th Airlift Division became the 76th Military Airlift Wing.
• Joint Base Andrews was designated on 1 October 2009 and on 1 October 2010, the Air Force completed the merge of the 11th Wing and the 316th at Joint Base Andrews.
• In a major reorganization, Headquarters Command, U.S.
• The closest airport to Andrews Field (ADW) is Bolling Air Force Base (BOF), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) WNW of ADW.