Nonstop flight route between Santa Monica, California, United States and Rhine, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Monica Airport (SMO), Santa Monica, California, United States and Rheine-Bentlage Air Base (ZPQ), Rhine, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,639 miles (or 9,076 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 Santa Monica Airport and Rheine-Bentlage 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 Santa Monica Airport and Rheine-Bentlage 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 Santa Monica Airport (SMO):

• In addition to being known as "Santa Monica Airport", other names for SMO include "Santa Monica Municipal Airport" and "Clover Field".
• Santa Monica Airport (SMO) currently has only 1 runway.
• Typhoon is the only restaurant on the airport property with a runway view and Spitfire Grill is across on Airport Avenue.
• The airport has a control tower and, on average, handled 296 operations a day.
• The closest airport to Santa Monica Airport (SMO) is Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) SSE of SMO.
• Originally Clover Field, after World War I aviator 2nd lieutenant Greayer "Grubby" Clover, the airport was the home of the Douglas Aircraft company.
• Because of Santa Monica Airport's relatively low elevation of 177 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Monica 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.
• Airport Park opened as an 8.3-acre public park on non-aviation lands at the southeast corner of the Airport.
• The furthest airport from Santa Monica Airport (SMO) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,484 miles (18,481 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.

Facts about Rheine-Bentlage Air Base (ZPQ):

• The furthest airport from Rheine-Bentlage Air Base (ZPQ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,825 miles (19,030 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In 1960, following the founding of the German Armed Forces in 1955 and the establishing of a new branch within the German Army, the Aviation Corps, completely new military installations, hangars and a small runway made of asphalt, were constructed on the grounds of the former German Air Force base.
• The closest airport to Rheine-Bentlage Air Base (ZPQ) is Münster Osnabrück International Airport (FMO), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) SE of ZPQ.
• Because of Rheine-Bentlage Air Base's relatively low elevation of 128 feet, planes can take off or land at Rheine-Bentlage 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.
• Rheine-Bentlage Air Base (ZPQ) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 1974, the CH-53 replaced the by now obsolete Sikorsky H-34 and has been in service ever since.
• In addition to being known as "Rheine-Bentlage Air Base", another name for ZPQ is "(Advanced Landing Ground B-108)".
• In 2004, after a further restructuring of the Bundeswehr, during which a large number of bases were closed, Army Aviation Medium Transport Regiment 15 was given the honorary name Münsterland, this being the result of the German Army's continuing commitment to the base at the time.