Nonstop flight route between Valaparaiso (near Fort Walton Beach), Florida, United States and Atwater, California, United States:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from VPS to MER:
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- About this route
- VPS Airport Information
- MER Airport Information
- Facts about VPS
- Facts about MER
- Map of Nearest Airports to VPS
- List of Nearest Airports to VPS
- Map of Furthest Airports from VPS
- List of Furthest Airports from VPS
- Map of Nearest Airports to MER
- List of Nearest Airports to MER
- Map of Furthest Airports from MER
- List of Furthest Airports from MER
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Northwest Florida Regional Airport (VPS), Valaparaiso (near Fort Walton Beach), Florida, United States and Castle Airport (MER), Atwater, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,997 miles (or 3,214 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 Northwest Florida Regional Airport and Castle Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | VPS / KVPS |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Valaparaiso (near Fort Walton Beach), Florida, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 30°28'59"N by 86°31'31"W |
Area Served: | Fort Walton Beach, Destin |
Airport Type: | Public / Military |
Elevation: | 87 feet (27 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from VPS |
More Information: | VPS Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | MER / KMER |
Airport Name: | Castle Airport |
Location: | Atwater, California, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 37°22'50"N by 120°34'5"W |
Operator/Owner: | Merced County Department of Commerce, Aviation, and Economic Development |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 191 feet (58 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from MER |
More Information: | MER Maps & Info |
Facts about Northwest Florida Regional Airport (VPS):
- The closest airport to Northwest Florida Regional Airport (VPS) is Destin–Fort Walton Beach Airport (DSI), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) SSE of VPS.
- The furthest airport from Northwest Florida Regional Airport (VPS) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,174 miles (17,983 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
- Northwest Florida Regional Airport is an airport within Eglin Air Force Base, near Valparaiso and Fort Walton Beach in Okaloosa County, Florida.
- The airport has a 110,000 ft² passenger terminal with three second-level gates with passenger jet ways and three ground-level commuter gates with regional jet boarding bridges
- In addition to being known as "Northwest Florida Regional Airport", another name for VPS is "Eglin Air Force Base".
- Because of Northwest Florida Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 87 feet, planes can take off or land at Northwest Florida Regional 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.
- Northwest Florida Regional Airport (VPS) has 2 runways.
Facts about Castle Airport (MER):
- Castle Airport covers an area of 1,360 acres which contains one runway with an 11,802 x 150 ft asphalt and concrete pavement.
- The furthest airport from Castle Airport (MER) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,312 miles (18,204 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
- Because of Castle Airport's relatively low elevation of 191 feet, planes can take off or land at Castle 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.
- Castle Airport (MER) currently has only 1 runway.
- EPA investigations have been completed at multiple areas of contamination including landfills, discharge areas, chemical disposal areas, fire training areas, fuel spill areas, and polychlorinated biphenyl spill areas.
- The closest airport to Castle Airport (MER) is Merced Regional Airport (MCE), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) SSE of MER.
- It serves one school, Sierra Academy of Aeronautics, which specializes in training foreign pilots, from the People's Republic of China.