Nonstop flight route between Lompoc, California, United States and Mashiki, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG), Lompoc, California, United States and Kumamoto Airport (KMJ), Mashiki, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,866 miles (or 9,440 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 Kumamoto 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 Vandenberg Air Force Base and Kumamoto 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 Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG):

• 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.
• 1st Air and Space Test Squadron
• As the war progressed, German and Italian prisoners of war were quartered at Camp Cooke.
• The closest airport to Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG) is Lompoc Airport (LPC), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) SE of VBG.
• The wing is organized into operations, launch, mission support and medical groups, along with several directly assigned staff agencies.
• 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.
• Vandenberg Air Force Base is named in honor of the late General Hoyt S.
• In addition to being known as "Vandenberg Air Force Base", another name for VBG is "Vandenberg AFB".

Facts about Kumamoto Airport (KMJ):

• The closest airport to Kumamoto Airport (KMJ) is Saga Airport (HSG), which is located 39 miles (62 kilometers) NW of KMJ.
• In addition to being known as "Kumamoto Airport", other names for KMJ include "熊本空港" and "Kumamoto Kūkō".
• The furthest airport from Kumamoto Airport (KMJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Kumamoto Airport (meaning Kumamoto Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,253 miles (19,720 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• Kumamoto was one of three nationally-owned airports to turn a profit in fiscal year 2011.
• Kumamoto Airport, also known as Aso Kumamoto Airport, is an airport in Mashiki, Kumamoto, Japan.
• Kumamoto Airport (KMJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Kumamoto Airport's relatively low elevation of 632 feet, planes can take off or land at Kumamoto 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.