Nonstop flight route between Santa Ana, California, United States and Valence, France:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from NZJ to VAF:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- NZJ Airport Information
- VAF Airport Information
- Facts about NZJ
- Facts about VAF
- Map of Nearest Airports to NZJ
- List of Nearest Airports to NZJ
- Map of Furthest Airports from NZJ
- List of Furthest Airports from NZJ
- Map of Nearest Airports to VAF
- List of Nearest Airports to VAF
- Map of Furthest Airports from VAF
- List of Furthest Airports from VAF
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between MCAS El Toro (NZJ), Santa Ana, California, United States and Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF), Valence, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,929 miles (or 9,541 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 MCAS El Toro and Valence - Chabeuil Airport, 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 MCAS El Toro and Valence - Chabeuil Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | NZJ / KNZJ |
Airport Name: | MCAS El Toro |
Location: | Santa Ana, California, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 33°40'33"N by 117°43'51"W |
Operator/Owner: | United States Marine Corps |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 383 feet (117 meters) |
# of Runways: | 5 |
View all routes: | Routes from NZJ |
More Information: | NZJ Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | VAF / LFLU |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Valence, France |
GPS Coordinates: | 44°54'56"N by 4°58'6"E |
Area Served: | Valence, Drôme, France |
Operator/Owner: | Department of Drôme |
Airport Type: | Public / Military |
Elevation: | 525 feet (160 meters) |
# of Runways: | 3 |
View all routes: | Routes from VAF |
More Information: | VAF Maps & Info |
Facts about MCAS El Toro (NZJ):
- MCAS El Toro (NZJ) has 5 runways.
- In 1950, El Toro was selected as a permanent Master Jet Station for the Fleet Marine Forces, Pacific.
- In 1993, MCAS El Toro was designated for closing by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission and all of its activities were to be transferred to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
- The furthest airport from MCAS El Toro (NZJ) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,486 miles (18,486 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
- The site is currently used as a filming location, including the test track for the United States version of BBC's Top Gear franchise.
- The closest airport to MCAS El Toro (NZJ) is John Wayne Airport (SNA), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) W of NZJ.
- Because of MCAS El Toro's relatively low elevation of 383 feet, planes can take off or land at MCAS El Toro 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 battle between pro-airport and anti-airport groups dominated Orange County politics for much of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
- Before the site could be developed for civilian use, the Department of the Navy was required to perform environmental remediation to clean up contaminated soil on the site.
Facts about Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF):
- Because of Valence - Chabeuil Airport's relatively low elevation of 525 feet, planes can take off or land at Valence - Chabeuil 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.
- In addition to being known as "Valence - Chabeuil Airport", other names for VAF include "Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) Y-23" and "Aéroport de Valence - Chabeuil".
- The airport's origin dates from the 1930s when the French Air Force established Valence-Chabeuil Air Base.
- Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF) has 3 runways.
- The furthest airport from Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Valence - Chabeuil Airport (meaning Valence - Chabeuil Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,333 miles (19,848 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- The closest airport to Valence - Chabeuil Airport (VAF) is Grenoble–Isère Airport (GNB), which is located 36 miles (57 kilometers) NNE of VAF.
- In 1945 the Armée de l'Air returned to its airfield and it returned to its prewar status as an active air base.