Vinod Khosla's Bombardier Challenger 604 flies 5 miles from Moffett to Oakland

Vinod Khosla's Bombardier Challenger 604, tail number N604SB, flew a short repositioning flight on Sunday, October 18, 2026. The aircraft departed Moffett Federal Airfield (KNUQ) in Mountain View at 21:48 UTC and landed at Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport (KOAK) at 21:56 UTC. The flight lasted 8 minutes.

The great-circle distance between the two airports is just 4 nautical miles, or about 5 miles. The aircraft reached a highest altitude of 2,200 feet. Celebplanes estimates the flight burned about 36 gallons of fuel and produced about 344 kg of CO2, roughly the same as driving a car 851 miles. The Bombardier Challenger 604 is a large-cabin jet with a range of 3,900 nautical miles, a top speed of Mach 0.82, and a ceiling of 41,000 feet. It typically seats 9 passengers, up to 12.

In the 30 days before this flight, Vinod Khosla's two aircraft — N604SB and N85NV, a Gulfstream V — made 27 flights totaling 71.9 hours in the air. Oakland was the most common destination in that window, with 12 landings. The home base on file is Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (KSJC), about 26 nautical miles from Oakland. Earlier on October 18, N604SB had already landed at Oakland before this short hop.

Vinod Khosla co-founded Sun Microsystems in 1982 and founded Khosla Ventures in 2004. He lives in Portola Valley, California, and owns the controversial Martins Beach property in Half Moon Bay. In September 2026, Vinod, his wife Neeru, and their son Neal Khosla closed on the purchase of the Seattle Seahawks from the Paul G. Allen estate for $9.612 billion, the highest price ever paid for an NFL team. Both N604SB and N85NV were at Boeing Field in Seattle for the Seahawks' home win over the Chargers.

No public appearance or event tied to Vinod Khosla or his organizations was found near Oakland on October 18. The brief flight between two Bay Area airports appears to be a routine aircraft movement.

Moffett Federal Airfield has a longest runway of 9,197 feet at an elevation of 32 feet. Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport has a longest runway of 10,520 feet at an elevation of 9 feet. The longest leg in that window was Edinburgh to Seattle on October 4, covering 3,881 nautical miles aboard the Gulfstream V.

Before this short hop, N604SB had been on the ground at Oakland for about one hour after a previous landing there on October 18. On October 16, both aircraft flew from Denver to Oakland: the Gulfstream V took 1 hour 59 minutes, and the Challenger 604 took 1 hour 50 minutes. On October 15, both flew from the Bay Area to Denver.

The aircraft moved from one Bay Area airfield to another in under 10 minutes.