Nonstop flight route between Istres, France and San Antonio, Texas, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from QIE to SKF:
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- About this route
- QIE Airport Information
- SKF Airport Information
- Facts about QIE
- Facts about SKF
- Map of Nearest Airports to QIE
- List of Nearest Airports to QIE
- Map of Furthest Airports from QIE
- List of Furthest Airports from QIE
- Map of Nearest Airports to SKF
- List of Nearest Airports to SKF
- Map of Furthest Airports from SKF
- List of Furthest Airports from SKF
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France and Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF), San Antonio, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,461 miles (or 8,789 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 Istres-Le Tubé Air Base and Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio, 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 Istres-Le Tubé Air Base and Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure 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 |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SKF / KSKF |
Airport Name: | Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio |
Location: | San Antonio, Texas, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 29°23'3"N by 98°34'51"W |
View all routes: | Routes from SKF |
More Information: | SKF Maps & Info |
Facts about Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE):
- 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".
- 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.
- 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.
- Istres-Le Tubé Air Base is a large multi-role tasked French Air Force base located near Istres, northwest of Marseille, France.
- Secondary users occasionally include the United States Air Force, during Allied operations engaging United States and France.
- C135FR "GRV 093 Bretagne"
- 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.
- 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.
- Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) currently has only 1 runway.
Facts about Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF):
- The closest airport to Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF) is Stinson Municipal Airport (SSF), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) ESE of SKF.
- During the 1960s, more permanent facilities were constructed, including four 1,000-person steel and brick Recruit Housing and Training dormitories built between 1966 and 1970 for basic military training by the Lackland Military Training Center.
- In October 2008 the BMT was expanded an extra two weeks to implement more air base defense training as well as other rudimentary skills.
- Lackland AFB is part of Joint Base San Antonio, an amalgamation of the United States Army Fort Sam Houston, the United States Air Force Randolph Air Force Base and Lackland Air Force Base, which were merged on 1 October 2010.
- Lackland gained a flying mission when adjacent Kelly Air Force Base closed in 2001.
- The furthest airport from Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,124 miles (17,902 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- In 1965 AN/FPS-20A was upgraded to an AN/FPS-91A radar, then in 1969 it was modified to an AN/FPS-66A.
- Lackland AFB hosts a collection of vintage military aircraft on static display on its parade grounds, including a B-52 Stratofortress, F-4 Phantom II, SR-71 Blackbird, C-121 Constellation, B-17 Flying Fortress and a B-25 Mitchell.
- By late 1959 Lackland was also performing air-traffic-control duties for the Federal Aviation Administration.