Nonstop flight route between Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States and Santa Ana, California, United States:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from TCL to NZJ:
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- About this route
- TCL Airport Information
- NZJ Airport Information
- Facts about TCL
- Facts about NZJ
- Map of Nearest Airports to TCL
- List of Nearest Airports to TCL
- Map of Furthest Airports from TCL
- List of Furthest Airports from TCL
- Map of Nearest Airports to NZJ
- List of Nearest Airports to NZJ
- Map of Furthest Airports from NZJ
- List of Furthest Airports from NZJ
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field (TCL), Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States and MCAS El Toro (NZJ), Santa Ana, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,731 miles (or 2,785 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 relatively short distance between Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field and MCAS El Toro, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | TCL / KTCL |
Airport Name: | Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field |
Location: | Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 33°13'14"N by 87°36'41"W |
Area Served: | Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
Operator/Owner: | City of Tuscaloosa |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 170 feet (52 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from TCL |
More Information: | TCL Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | NZJ / KNZJ |
Airport Name: | MCAS El Toro |
Location: | Santa Ana, California, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 33°40'33"N by 117°43'51"W |
Operator/Owner: | United States Marine Corps |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 383 feet (117 meters) |
# of Runways: | 5 |
View all routes: | Routes from NZJ |
More Information: | NZJ Maps & Info |
Facts about Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field (TCL):
- Military operations were inactivated on September 8, 1944, with the drawdown of AAFTC's pilot training program.
- Because of Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field's relatively low elevation of 170 feet, planes can take off or land at Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field 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 Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field (TCL) is George Downer Airport (AIV), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) WSW of TCL.
- Pilot training was provided under contact by the Alabama Institute of Aeronautics, Inc.
- The furthest airport from Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field (TCL) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,131 miles (17,914 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
- Tuscaloosa Regional Airport covers an area of 724 acres at an elevation of 170 feet above mean sea level.
- Atlantic Southeast Airlines provided daily service between Tuscaloosa and Atlanta between 1982 and June 1992.GP Express Airlines would continue service to Atlanta from June 6, 1992, through the elimination of the EAS subsidy for its operation on June 30, 1994.
- Tuscaloosa Regional AirportVan De Graaff Field (TCL) has 2 runways.
- While visiting Tuscaloosa on April 29, 2011, to assess devastation reliefs efforts in the wake of the April 27th tornado disaster, President Barack Obama landed at Tuscaloosa Regional Airport in the Boeing C-32 presidential transport plane.
Facts about MCAS El Toro (NZJ):
- The furthest airport from MCAS El Toro (NZJ) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,486 miles (18,486 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
- The land area originally taken by the air station is planned to be converted into a large recreational center, the Orange County Great Park.
- Marine Corps Air Station El Toro was a United States Marine Corps Air Station located near Irvine, California.
- Already the largest Marine air station on the West Coast, in 1944, funds were approved to double its size and operations.
- Those against the airport proposal were largely residents of the cities in the immediate vicinity of El Toro, such as Irvine, Lake Forest, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Dana Point, and Mission Viejo, where residents were alarmed at the idea of the aircraft noise.
- Because of MCAS El Toro's relatively low elevation of 383 feet, planes can take off or land at MCAS El Toro 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 Department of the Navy hired the General Services Administration and Los Angeles-based Colliers International to assist in the sale of MCAS El Toro.
- The closest airport to MCAS El Toro (NZJ) is John Wayne Airport (SNA), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) W of NZJ.
- The battle between pro-airport and anti-airport groups dominated Orange County politics for much of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
- MCAS El Toro (NZJ) has 5 runways.