Nonstop flight route between Lompoc, California, United States and Rifle, Colorado, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from VBG to RIL:
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- About this route
- VBG Airport Information
- RIL Airport Information
- Facts about VBG
- Facts about RIL
- 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 RIL
- List of Nearest Airports to RIL
- Map of Furthest Airports from RIL
- List of Furthest Airports from RIL
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG), Lompoc, California, United States and Garfield County Regional Airport (RIL), Rifle, Colorado, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 780 miles (or 1,255 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 Vandenberg Air Force Base and Garfield County Regional Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
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: | RIL / KRIL |
| Airport Name: | Garfield County Regional Airport |
| Location: | Rifle, Colorado, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 39°31'35"N by 107°43'36"W |
| Area Served: | Garfield County, Colorado |
| Operator/Owner: | Garfield County |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 5548 feet (1,691 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from RIL |
| More Information: | RIL Maps & Info |
Facts about Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG):
- 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 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.
- 30th Operations Group
- 21st Space Operations Squadron
- In 1941 the United States Army sought more and better training centers for the rapid development of its armored and infantry forces.
- General Cooke was a cavalry officer whose military career spanned almost half a century, beginning with his graduation from West Point in 1827 to his retirement in 1873.
- 1st Air and Space Test Squadron
- Four years later the military returned to Camp Cooke.
- In addition to being known as "Vandenberg Air Force Base", another name for VBG is "Vandenberg AFB".
- In addition to its military mission, the base also leases launch pad facilities to SpaceX, as well as 100 acres leased to the California Spaceport in 1995.
Facts about Garfield County Regional Airport (RIL):
- The furthest airport from Garfield County Regional Airport (RIL) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,972 miles (17,657 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- Because of Garfield County Regional Airport's high elevation of 5,548 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at RIL. Combined with a high temperature, this could make RIL a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- The closest airport to Garfield County Regional Airport (RIL) is Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) E of RIL.
- Garfield County Regional Airport (RIL) currently has only 1 runway.
