Nonstop flight route between Valenciennes, France and San Angelo, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS), Valenciennes, France and Goodfellow Air Force Base (GOF), San Angelo, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,133 miles (or 8,260 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 Goodfellow 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 Goodfellow 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.
• 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 addition to being known as "Valenciennes-Denain Airport", another name for XVS is "(Advanced Landing Ground A-83/B-74)".
• It appears that the Luftwaffe moved out of Denain in 1941 and the airfield was left unused.
• The closest airport to Valenciennes-Denain Airport (XVS) is Lille Airport (LIL), which is located 23 miles (37 kilometers) NW of XVS.
• 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.
• It supports general aviation with no commercial airline service scheduled.
• After being used for a brief time as a storage depot for excess aircraft after the war ended by Air Technical Service Command, the Americans turned the airfield back over to French authorities on 25 June 1945.
• The wartime air base is still evident with the 5500' concrete NE/SW runway remaining, complete with patched bomb craters and expansion joints allowing grass to grow between the concrete pads.

Facts about Goodfellow Air Force Base (GOF):

• On 1 July 1993, the 17th Training Wing was activated on Goodfellow AFB.
• The next four years witnessed the graduation of more than 10,000 trained pilots and the decoration of scores of these for outstanding heroism in action against Germany, Italy, and Japan.
• After 38 years of pilot and then intelligence training, Goodfellow's mission had apparently come to a close with the announcement in 1978 that the base would revert to Air Training Command and was a candidate for closure.
• The closest airport to Goodfellow Air Force Base (GOF) is San Angelo Regional Airport (SJT), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) SW of GOF.
• Although flight operations at Goodfellow decreased dramatically after 1958, minimal activities continued with both transient aircraft and locally-based Cessna U-3 Administrators, DeHavilland U-6 Beavers, Piasecki H-21, CH-21 and HH-21 Workhorse helicopters and Cessna O-2 Skymasters.
• The furthest airport from Goodfellow Air Force Base (GOF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,146 miles (17,937 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Goodfellow Air Force Base is a non-flying United States Air Force base located in San Angelo, Texas.