Nonstop flight route between Valence, France and Mountain View, California, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from VAF to NUQ:
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- About this route
- VAF Airport Information
- NUQ Airport Information
- Facts about VAF
- Facts about NUQ
- Map of Nearest Airports to VAF
- List of Nearest Airports to VAF
- Map of Furthest Airports from VAF
- List of Furthest Airports from VAF
- Map of Nearest Airports to NUQ
- List of Nearest Airports to NUQ
- Map of Furthest Airports from NUQ
- List of Furthest Airports from NUQ
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF), Valence, France and Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ), Mountain View, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,860 miles (or 9,431 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 Valence - Chabeuil Airport and Moffett Federal Airfield, 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 Valence - Chabeuil Airport and Moffett Federal Airfield. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | VAF / LFLU |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Valence, France |
| GPS Coordinates: | 44°54'56"N by 4°58'6"E |
| Area Served: | Valence, Drôme, France |
| Operator/Owner: | Department of Drôme |
| Airport Type: | Public / Military |
| Elevation: | 525 feet (160 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 3 |
| View all routes: | Routes from VAF |
| More Information: | VAF Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | NUQ / KNUQ |
| Airport Name: | Moffett Federal Airfield |
| Location: | Mountain View, California, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 37°24'53"N by 122°2'53"W |
| Operator/Owner: | NASA Ames Research Center |
| Airport Type: | Private |
| Elevation: | 32 feet (10 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from NUQ |
| More Information: | NUQ Maps & Info |
Facts about Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF):
- The closest airport to Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF) is Grenoble–Isère Airport (GNB), which is located 36 miles (57 kilometers) NNE of VAF.
- Because of Valence - Chabeuil Airport's relatively low elevation of 525 feet, planes can take off or land at Valence - Chabeuil 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.
- The airport was a pre-World War II French Air Force airfield.
- Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF) has 3 runways.
- In 1945 the Armée de l'Air returned to its airfield and it returned to its prewar status as an active air base.
- After the forceful occupation of Vichy France in November 1942 as a result of Case Anton Wehrmacht units moved into the Valence area and the airport came under the control of the Luftwaffe.
- In addition to being known as "Valence - Chabeuil Airport", other names for VAF include "Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) Y-23" and "Aéroport de Valence - Chabeuil".
- The furthest airport from Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Valence - Chabeuil Airport (meaning Valence - Chabeuil Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,333 miles (19,848 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
Facts about Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ):
- Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) has 2 runways.
- Moffett Federal Airfield has occasional air traffic, with an average of 5-10 flights landing per day.
- The furthest airport from Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,365 miles (18,290 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
- As an aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Navy wanted to use the airship hangars at Moffett for blimp operations along with Pacific Coast.
- Post-Cold War defense cutbacks and related Base Realignment and Closure actions in the 1990s identified NAS Moffett Field for closure.
- In 2008, the Ames Research Center leased 42 acres around the field to Google.
- Because of Moffett Federal Airfield's relatively low elevation of 32 feet, planes can take off or land at Moffett Federal Airfield 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.
- After the crashing of the Macon on 12 February 1935, the Navy wanted to close Moffett Field due to its high cost of operations.
- At its peak in the 1990s, NAS Moffett Field was the U.S.
- The adjacent NASA Ames Research Center is also home to several wind tunnels, including the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, and the National Full-Scale Aerodynamic Complex.
- In 2006, an offer to clean the hangar and coat its outsides with solar panels to recoup the costs of cleaning was floated by a private company, but the plan never saw fruition because it was too costly.
- The closest airport to Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ) is Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NW of NUQ.
