Nonstop flight route between Valenciennes, France and Marysville, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS), Valenciennes, France and Beale Air Force Base (BAB), Marysville, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,411 miles (or 8,708 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 Valenciennes-Denain Airport and Beale Air Force Base, 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 Valenciennes-Denain Airport and Beale Air Force Base. 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 Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS):

• Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Valenciennes-Denain Airport", another name for XVS is "(Advanced Landing Ground A-83/B-74)".
• Because of Valenciennes-Denain Airport's relatively low elevation of 177 feet, planes can take off or land at Valenciennes-Denain 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 closest airport to Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS) is Lille Airport (LIL), which is located 23 miles (37 kilometers) NW of XVS.
• It is known that Denain was used by the Royal Air Force, as it was assigned ALG "B-74".
• The furthest airport from Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,987 miles (19,291 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In response to the interceptor attacks, Denain was attacked by USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauder medium bombers and P-47 Thunderbolts mostly with 500-pound General-Purpose bombs.
• It was seized by the Germans in late May 1940 during the early part of the Battle of France.
• It appears that the Luftwaffe moved out of Denain in 1941 and the airfield was left unused.

Facts about Beale Air Force Base (BAB):

• The closest airport to Beale Air Force Base (BAB) is Yuba County Airport (MYV), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) WSW of BAB.
• The 940th Wing is a Reconnaissance, Command & Control and Intelligence unit assigned to the United States Air Force Reserve.
• In addition to being known as "Beale Air Force Base", another name for BAB is "Beale AFB".
• The 456th BW was inactivated on 30 September 1975, and its equipment and personnel were redesignated as the 17th Bombardment Wing, Heavy when the senior unit was inactivated at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
• In 1962, in order to retain the lineage of its MAJCOM 4-digit combat units and to perpetuate the lineage of many currently inactive bombardment units with illustrious World War II records, Headquarters SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its MAJCOM strategic wings that were equipped with combat aircraft and to activate AFCON units, most of which were inactive at the time which could carry a lineage and history.
• The base is named for Edward Fitzgerald Beale, an American Navy Lieutenant and a Brigadier General in the California Militia who was an explorer and frontiersman in California.
• DC-18 was initially under the San Francisco Air Defense Sector, established on 15 February 1959.
• The furthest airport from Beale Air Force Base (BAB) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,251 miles (18,107 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.