Nonstop flight route between Alpe d'Huez, France and Wichita Falls, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Alpe d'Huez Airport (AHZ), Alpe d'Huez, France and Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS), Wichita Falls, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,224 miles (or 8,407 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 Alpe d'Huez Airport and Sheppard 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 Alpe d'Huez Airport and Sheppard Air Force Base. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Alpe d'Huez Airport (AHZ):

• Alpe d'Huez Airport (AHZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Alpe d'Huez Airport's high elevation of 6,037 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at AHZ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make AHZ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Alpe d'Huez Airport", another name for AHZ is "L'altiport de l'Alpe d'Huez".
• The furthest airport from Alpe d'Huez Airport (AHZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Alpe d'Huez Airport (meaning Alpe d'Huez Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,283 miles (19,768 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Alpe d'Huez Airport (AHZ) is Méribel Airport (MFX), which is located 33 miles (52 kilometers) NE of AHZ.

Facts about Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS):

• The closest airport to Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS) is Kickapoo Downtown Airport (KIP), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) S of SPS.
• The host unit at Sheppard is the 82d Training Wing, which provides specialized technical training, medical, and field training for officers, Airmen, and civilians of all branches of the military, other DoD agencies, and foreign nationals.
• Sheppard Air Force Base is named in honor of Senator John Morris Sheppard of Texas, chairman of the Senate Military Affairs Committee from 1933 until his death on 9 April 1941.
• During World War II, then-Sheppard Field conducted basic training, and it also trained glider mechanics, technical and flying training instructors and B-29 Superfortress flight engineers.
• In addition to being known as "Sheppard Air Force Base", another name for SPS is "Sheppard AFB".
• The 3630th Flying Training Wing was activated in 1965, and it assumed the helicopter training program.
• The furthest airport from Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,952 miles (17,626 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.