Nonstop flight route between Ardmore, New Zealand and Big Spring, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ardmore Airport (AMZ), Ardmore, New Zealand and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,197 miles (or 11,582 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 Ardmore Airport and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield, 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 Ardmore Airport and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield. 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 Ardmore Airport (AMZ):

• Ardmore Airport (AMZ) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from Ardmore Airport (AMZ) is Málaga Airport (AGP), which is nearly antipodal to Ardmore Airport (meaning Ardmore Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Málaga Airport), and is located 12,399 miles (19,954 kilometers) away in Málaga, Spain.
• The airfield has a circuit height of 1,100 ft for fixed wing aircraft, 800 ft for helicopters.
• Ardmore Airport is one of New Zealand's busiest general aviation airfields.
• Ardmore was constructed during World War II by USAAF forces stationed in Auckland, and was intended to be used as a base for B-17 Flying Fortress bombers.
• The airfield is serviced by two R-NAV arrivals, one for each runway.
• From 1954 until 1962 the aerodrome was home to the New Zealand Grand Prix with the circuit being approximately 2 miles in length and utilising the two sealed runways operational at the time.
• Because of Ardmore Airport's relatively low elevation of 111 feet, planes can take off or land at Ardmore 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.
• The closest airport to Ardmore Airport (AMZ) is Auckland Airport (AKL), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) W of AMZ.

Facts about Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS):

• The furthest airport from Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,166 miles (17,969 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• At that time, nearly 6,000 students had graduated and the field's training aircraft had flown approximately 400,000 hours and more than 60 million miles.
• The closest airport to Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS) is Midland Airpark (MDD), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) WSW of BGS.
• In August 1972, ATC established a pilot instructor training course for Vietnamese Air Force instructors at Webb AFB, Texas.
• In 1956, the Air Defense Command 331st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was transferred to Webb from Stewart Air Force Base in New York to defend the southern United States border on air intercept missions as part of the Central Air Defense Force.
• 3560th Pilot Training Wing
• Perhaps the most dominant feature on the ATC landscape in 1974 was the serious fuel shortage the command had to contend with for much of the year.