Nonstop flight route between Chartres, France and Santa Maria, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Chartres - Champhol Aerodrome (QTJ), Chartres, France and Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,662 miles (or 9,112 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 Santa Maria Public 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 Santa Maria Public 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):

• It was reinforced by the Armée de l'Air as a military airfield after the Invasion of Poland in September 1939.
• Even if it was a huge part of its History, Chartres airfield was not only a German or an American one.
• 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".
• Chartres - Champhol Aerodrome (QTJ) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• 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.
• A this time, the airfield was opened to civil planes, as well.
• The first plane in the world took off on October, the 9th, 1890, in France, due to the engineer Clément Ader.
• 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 closest airport to Chartres - Champhol Aerodrome (QTJ) is Toussus-le-Noble Airport (TNF), which is located 33 miles (54 kilometers) NE of QTJ.
• The airfield was first attacked by the German Luftwaffe on 3 June by a formation of 15 twin engine Dornier Do-17 light bombers.

Facts about Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX):

• A runway extension opened on May 3, 2012, from 6,304 ft.
• The first airline to serve Santa Maria was Southwest Airways operating Douglas DC-3 prop aircraft.
• Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) is Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SSW of SMX.
• Because of Santa Maria Public Airport's relatively low elevation of 261 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Maria Public 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.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Public Airport", another name for SMX is "Capt. G. Allan Hancock FieldSanta Maria Army Airfield".
• The furthest airport from Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,466 miles (18,453 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.