Nonstop flight route between Chartres, France and Watertown, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Chartres - Champhol Aerodrome (QTJ), Chartres, France and Watertown Regional Airport (ATY), Watertown, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,337 miles (or 6,979 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 Chartres - Champhol Aerodrome and Watertown Regional Airport, 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 Chartres - Champhol Aerodrome and Watertown Regional Airport. 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 Chartres - Champhol Aerodrome (QTJ):

• In 1923, the "22e Régiment Aérien de bombardement de nuit" landed in Chartres in 1936.
• The closest airport to Chartres - Champhol Aerodrome (QTJ) is Toussus-le-Noble Airport (TNF), which is located 33 miles (54 kilometers) NE of QTJ.
• In addition to being known as "Chartres - Champhol Aerodrome", other names for QTJ include "Aérodrome de Chartres - Champhol" and "Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) A-40".
• Because of Chartres - Champhol Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 509 feet, planes can take off or land at Chartres - Champhol Aerodrome 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 furthest airport from Chartres - Champhol Aerodrome (QTJ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Chartres - Champhol Aerodrome (meaning Chartres - Champhol Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,101 miles (19,475 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The first plane in the world took off on October, the 9th, 1890, in France, due to the engineer Clément Ader.
• It was liberated by Allied ground forces about 21 August 1944 during the Northern France Campaign.
• Under American control, Chartres initially became the home of the 368th Fighter Group, which flew P-47 Thunderbolts from the field starting on 23 August, remaining until 11 September.
• What appears to be hangars are on the north side of the airport, about 200m north of the runway, and unconnected with the current airport were probably part of the former military airfield.
• Chartres - Champhol Aerodrome (QTJ) has 2 runways.

Facts about Watertown Regional Airport (ATY):

• The furthest airport from Watertown Regional Airport (ATY) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,571 miles (17,013 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Watertown Regional Airport (ATY) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Watertown Regional Airport (ATY) is Brookings Regional Airport (BKX), which is located 45 miles (73 kilometers) SSE of ATY.
• In addition to being known as "Watertown Regional Airport", another name for ATY is "Watertown Army Airfield".
• B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator units underwent advanced training before going overseas.