Nonstop flight route between Mason City, Iowa, United States and Istres, France:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from MCW to QIE:
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- About this route
- MCW Airport Information
- QIE Airport Information
- Facts about MCW
- Facts about QIE
- Map of Nearest Airports to MCW
- List of Nearest Airports to MCW
- Map of Furthest Airports from MCW
- List of Furthest Airports from MCW
- Map of Nearest Airports to QIE
- List of Nearest Airports to QIE
- Map of Furthest Airports from QIE
- List of Furthest Airports from QIE
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Mason City Municipal Airport (MCW), Mason City, Iowa, United States and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,611 miles (or 7,421 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 Mason City Municipal Airport and Istres-Le Tubé Air 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 Mason City Municipal Airport and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | MCW / KMCW |
Airport Name: | Mason City Municipal Airport |
Location: | Mason City, Iowa, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 43°9'28"N by 93°19'51"W |
Area Served: | Mason City, Iowa |
Operator/Owner: | City of Mason City |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 1214 feet (370 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from MCW |
More Information: | MCW Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | QIE / LFMI |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Istres, France |
GPS Coordinates: | 43°31'27"N by 4°56'30"E |
Operator/Owner: | Government of France |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 162 feet (49 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from QIE |
More Information: | QIE Maps & Info |
Facts about Mason City Municipal Airport (MCW):
- In the early morning hours of February 3, 1959, following a concert at the Surf Ballroom in nearby Clear Lake, musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P.
- Great Lakes Airlines previously served the airport without funding from the EAS program and the airline flew direct to Chicago O'Hare up until October 28, 1998.
- The closest airport to Mason City Municipal Airport (MCW) is Forest City Municipal Airport (FXY), which is located only 16 miles (25 kilometers) WNW of MCW.
- The furthest airport from Mason City Municipal Airport (MCW) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,784 miles (17,354 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
- The airport was founded in 1927 by the Mason City Chamber of Commerce and the Clausen-Worden Post of the American Legion, hence its airport code "MCW".
- Mason City Municipal Airport (MCW) has 2 runways.
Facts about Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE):
- C135FR "GRV 093 Bretagne"
- The closest airport to Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) is Marseille Provence Airport (MRS), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) ESE of QIE.
- With the end of the war, the Americans used Istres as a staging point between Occupied Germany and Morocco for air transport of personnel back to the United States.
- Sometime after World War II, until May 1958 Base Aérienne 125 was host to the Royal Air Force Liaison Party, that serviced transient British and Commonwealth military aircraft staging to and from the United Kingdom.
- Because of Istres-Le Tubé Air Base's relatively low elevation of 162 feet, planes can take off or land at Istres-Le Tubé Air Base 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.
- In addition to being known as "Istres-Le Tubé Air Base", another name for QIE is "Base aérienne 125 Istres (BA 125)Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) Y-17".
- The furthest airport from Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (meaning Istres-Le Tubé Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,364 miles (19,898 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- On 31 March 1992, a Boeing 707 of Kabo Air, a Nigerian company, made an emergency landing at Istres after engines 3 and 4 had separated from the wing in turbulence at 35,000 feet.
- Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) currently has only 1 runway.