Nonstop flight route between San Bernardino, California, United States and Reims, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Norton Air Force Base (SBD), San Bernardino, California, United States and Reims-Champagne Air Base (RHE), Reims, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,644 miles (or 9,083 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 Norton Air Force Base and Reims-Champagne Air 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 Norton Air Force Base and Reims-Champagne Air 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 Norton Air Force Base (SBD):

• 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.
• A base railroad system interchanged with the Pacific Electric/Southern Pacific branch line on the south side of the installation.
• In 1950, Air Defense Command activated the 27th Air Division at Norton AFB, being assigned to the Western Air Defense Force.
• Norton Air Force Base began before World War II as Municipal Airport, San Bernardino under Army Air Corps jurisdiction.
• 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.
• Recently, private development on the former base has helped turn the basically unused land into jobs and revenue for the city of San Bernardino as several companies have opened distribution centers on the property.
• Discrete C-130 Hercules modification tests were conducted out of Area II of the base in the late 1960s, with the 1198th Operational Evaluation and Training Squadron operating four highly classified C-130E special operations testbeds modified at Lockheed Air Services, at near-by Ontario Airport under projects Thin Slice and Heavy Chain.
• In addition to being known as "Norton Air Force Base", another name for SBD is "Norton AFB".
• In 1955, the 27th AD established a Manual Air-Defense Control Center at Norton to monitor and track aircraft in Southern California.
• Norton was placed on the Department of Defense's base closure list in 1989.

Facts about Reims-Champagne Air Base (RHE):

• Under American control, Ninth Air Force assigned the 440th Troop Carrier Group to the base, flying C-47 Skytrain transports until the end of September.
• The furthest airport from Reims-Champagne Air Base (RHE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Reims-Champagne Air Base (meaning Reims-Champagne Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,056 miles (19,402 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The first unit to arrive at Reims was the Breguet 19–equipped 12th Regiment, which arrived from the Occupied Rhineland airdrome at Lachen-Speyerdorf.
• In addition to being known as "Reims-Champagne Air Base", another name for RHE is "Base aérienne 112Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) A-62".
• Because of Reims-Champagne Air Base's relatively low elevation of 314 feet, planes can take off or land at Reims-Champagne 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.
• Reims-Champagne Air Base (RHE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Reims-Champagne Air Base (RHE) is Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome (XCY), which is located 36 miles (57 kilometers) WSW of RHE.
• In 2008 it was announced that the base would be closed.