Nonstop flight route between Guápiles, Costa Rica and Spokane, Washington, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GPL to SKA:
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- About this route
- GPL Airport Information
- SKA Airport Information
- Facts about GPL
- Facts about SKA
- Map of Nearest Airports to GPL
- List of Nearest Airports to GPL
- Map of Furthest Airports from GPL
- List of Furthest Airports from GPL
- Map of Nearest Airports to SKA
- List of Nearest Airports to SKA
- Map of Furthest Airports from SKA
- List of Furthest Airports from SKA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Guápiles Airport (GPL), Guápiles, Costa Rica and Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA), Spokane, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,248 miles (or 5,227 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 Guápiles Airport and Fairchild 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 Guápiles Airport and Fairchild Air Force Base. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | GPL / MRGP |
Airport Name: | Guápiles Airport |
Location: | Guápiles, Costa Rica |
GPS Coordinates: | 10°13'1"N by 83°47'59"W |
Area Served: | Guápiles, Costa Rica |
Operator/Owner: | Dirección General de Aviación Civil (DGAC) |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 883 feet (269 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from GPL |
More Information: | GPL Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SKA / KSKA |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Spokane, Washington, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 47°36'54"N by 117°39'20"W |
View all routes: | Routes from SKA |
More Information: | SKA Maps & Info |
Facts about Guápiles Airport (GPL):
- The closest airport to Guápiles Airport (GPL) is Tobías Bolaños International Airport (SYQ), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) SW of GPL.
- The furthest airport from Guápiles Airport (GPL) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is nearly antipodal to Guápiles Airport (meaning Guápiles Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport), and is located 12,294 miles (19,785 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
- Because of Guápiles Airport's relatively low elevation of 883 feet, planes can take off or land at Guápiles 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.
- Guápiles Airport (GPL) currently has only 1 runway.
Facts about Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA):
- The closest airport to Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA) is Spokane International Airport (GEG), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) E of SKA.
- In addition to being known as "Fairchild Air Force Base", another name for SKA is "Fairchild AFB".
- Fairchild AFB was established in 1942 as the Spokane Air Depot.
- The furthest airport from Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,665 miles (17,163 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
- As military operations in Vietnam escalated in the mid-1960s, the demand for air refueling increased.
- With the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, both groups deployed to Japan and Guam.
- 7 December 1993 marked the beginning of a significant change in the mission of Fairchild when the B-52s were transferred to another ACC base while the KC-135s, now assigned to the newly established Air Mobility Command would remain.