Nonstop flight route between Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany and San Bernardino, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mainz Finthen Airport (QMZ), Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany and Norton Air Force Base (SBD), San Bernardino, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,739 miles (or 9,236 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 Mainz Finthen Airport and Norton Air Force 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 Mainz Finthen Airport and Norton Air Force Base. 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 Mainz Finthen Airport (QMZ):

• The airport has numerous World War II relics, the largest being the wartime German hangar.
• Because of Mainz Finthen Airport's relatively low elevation of 525 feet, planes can take off or land at Mainz Finthen 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.
• Mainz Finthen Airport (QMZ) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Mainz Finthen Airport (QMZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,959 miles (19,246 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• As part of their commitment to NATO, United States Army forces returned to the Mainz area, and took over the airfield, which was renamed Finthen Army Airfield.
• In addition to being known as "Mainz Finthen Airport", other names for QMZ include "Flugplatz Mainz-Finthen" and "Advanced Landing Ground Y-64".
• Once repaired, the Ninth Air Force 10th Reconnaissance Group moved in, with photo-reconnaissance P-38 Lightning and P-51 Mustang aircraft to provide forward tactical reconnaissance to Army ground units moving into central Germany.
• The airport was first opened in 1939 as a Luftwaffe military airfield.
• The closest airport to Mainz Finthen Airport (QMZ) is Lucius D. Clay KaserneWiesbaden Army AirfieldWiesbaden Air BaseAdvanced Landing Ground Y-80Fliegerhorst Wiesbaden (WIE), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) NE of QMZ.
• The airport has a commercial café and snack bar.
• The airfield was taken by elements of the XII Corps, 90th Division, of the Third United States Army under the command of General George S.

Facts about Norton Air Force Base (SBD):

• During World War II, San Bernardino Army Airfield provided administrative and logistical support for the United States Army Desert Training Center.
• LAADS was inactivated on 1 April 1966 and the designation was returned as the 27th Air Division, being stationed at Luke AFB, Arizona under Fourth Air Force as part of a consolidation with the inactivating Phoenix Air Defense Sector.
• With the air force moving into the jet age in the late 1940s, Norton began overhauling jet engines in 1951, and the San Bernardino Air Materiel Area became one of three air force jet overhaul centers by 1953.
• The closest airport to Norton Air Force Base (SBD) is San Bernardino International Airport (SBT), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) S of SBD.
• In addition to being known as "Norton Air Force Base", another name for SBD is "Norton AFB".
• Norton Air Force Base was a United States Air Force facility located 2 miles east of downtown San Bernardino, California in San Bernardino County.
• The furthest airport from Norton Air Force Base (SBD) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,447 miles (18,423 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• The aviation facilities of the base were converted into San Bernardino International Airport, and 3 of the 4 stationed squadrons – C-141 Starlifter, C-21, and C-12 Huron aircraft – were moved to nearby March Air Force Base, while the remaining squadron – C-141 aircraft – was moved to McChord Air Force Base, Washington.