Nonstop flight route between San Bernardino, California, United States and Gaua, Torba, Vanuatu:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Norton Air Force Base (SBD), San Bernardino, California, United States and Gaua Airport (ZGU), Gaua, Torba, Vanuatu would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,950 miles (or 9,576 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 Gaua 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 Norton Air Force Base and Gaua 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 Norton Air Force Base (SBD):

• On 1 March 1942, the airport was renamed San Bernardino Army Air Field and the San Bernardino Air Depot was established there.
• In addition to being known as "Norton Air Force Base", another name for SBD is "Norton AFB".
• The closure was cited as due to environmental wastes, inadequate facilities, and air traffic congestion west, and Los Angeles International Airport, 60 miles west).
• A change of mission in 1966 from Air Force Logistics Command to Military Airlift Command meant that Norton became one of six Military Airlift Command strategic-airlift bases, supporting US Army and Marine Corps' airlift requirements among other functions.
• During World War II, San Bernardino Army Airfield provided administrative and logistical support for the United States Army Desert Training Center.
• In 1950, Air Defense Command activated the 27th Air Division at Norton AFB, being assigned to the Western Air Defense Force.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Gaua Airport (ZGU):

• The furthest airport from Gaua Airport (ZGU) is Bakel Airport (BXE), which is nearly antipodal to Gaua Airport (meaning Gaua Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Bakel Airport), and is located 12,393 miles (19,945 kilometers) away in Bakel, Senegal.
• The closest airport to Gaua Airport (ZGU) is Vanua Lava Airport (SLH), which is located 26 miles (41 kilometers) N of ZGU.