Nonstop flight route between Lompoc, California, United States and Berlin, Germany:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from VBG to GWW:
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- About this route
- VBG Airport Information
- GWW Airport Information
- Facts about VBG
- Facts about GWW
- Map of Nearest Airports to VBG
- List of Nearest Airports to VBG
- Map of Furthest Airports from VBG
- List of Furthest Airports from VBG
- Map of Nearest Airports to GWW
- List of Nearest Airports to GWW
- Map of Furthest Airports from GWW
- List of Furthest Airports from GWW
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG), Lompoc, California, United States and Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW), Berlin, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,798 miles (or 9,331 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 Vandenberg Air Force Base and Royal Air Force Station Gatow, 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 Vandenberg Air Force Base and Royal Air Force Station Gatow. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | VBG / KVBG |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Lompoc, California, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 34°43'57"N by 120°34'5"W |
| View all routes: | Routes from VBG |
| More Information: | VBG Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | GWW / EDBG |
| Airport Name: | Royal Air Force Station Gatow |
| Location: | Berlin, Germany |
| GPS Coordinates: | 52°28'27"N by 13°8'17"E |
| Operator/Owner: | formerly: Ministry of Defence, now: Bundeswehr |
| Airport Type: | Military (airport no longer in operation) |
| Elevation: | 161 feet (49 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from GWW |
| More Information: | GWW Maps & Info |
Facts about Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG):
- 9th Space Operations Squadron
- In March 1945, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, and full general in 1947.
- From August 1950 to February 1953, Camp Cooke served as a training installation for units slated for combat in Korea, and as a summer training base for many other reserve units.
- 30th Operations Group
- Vandenberg AFB is a Department of Defense space and missile testing base, with a mission of placing satellites into polar orbit from the West Coast, using expendable boosters.
- The furthest airport from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,479 miles (18,473 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
- The closest airport to Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG) is Lompoc Airport (LPC), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) SE of VBG.
- In addition to being known as "Vandenberg Air Force Base", another name for VBG is "Vandenberg AFB".
Facts about Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW):
- The furthest airport from Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,694 miles (18,819 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW) currently has only 1 runway.
- On 20 June 1980, the Royal Australian Air Force presented a Douglas Dakota to RAF Gatow in commemoration of its role.
- Because of Royal Air Force Station Gatow's relatively low elevation of 161 feet, planes can take off or land at Royal Air Force Station Gatow 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 Royal Air Force Station Gatow (GWW) is Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) NE of GWW.
- Clues to the airfield's original use survive in the barrack block accommodation, each block of which was named after a famous German airman of the First World War, with the airman's bust above the entrance door.
- BEA moved to Tempelhof Airport in 1951, where most of West Berlin's commercial air transport operations were concentrated from then on.
- The novel Air Bridge by Hammond Innes is partially set in RAF Gatow at the time of the Berlin Airlift, and is notable for its accurate descriptions of the Station, including corridors and rooms within it.
- Also on the site of the former Royal Air Force station, but not part of General Steinhoff-Kaserne, is a school, the Hans-Carossa-Gymnasium, as well as houses for government employees of the Federal Republic of Germany.
- The airfield is now called General-Steinhoff Kaserne.
