Nonstop flight route between Big Spring, Texas, United States and Barcelonnette / Saint-Pons, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States and Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (BAE), Barcelonnette / Saint-Pons, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,483 miles (or 8,823 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 Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield and Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport, 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 Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield and Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport. 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 Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS):

• The airfield was activated as Big Spring Air Force Base on 1 October 1951 by the United States Air Force Air Training Command and established the 3560th Pilot Training Wing.
• The AT-11 which was activated to replace the separate air and ground units.
• 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 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.
• By the mid-1970s, the end of the Vietnam War, the associated financial costs of that conflict and related cuts in USAF force structure and future defense budgets meant a marked decrease in the need for Air Force pilots.
• Construction of the Army Air Forces Bombardier School began on 15 May 1942, and the airfield received its first class of cadets on 16 September 1942.
• 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 Webb AFB, the last two pilot training classes completed course work on 30 August 1977, and fixed wing qualification training ended on 1 September 1977.

Facts about Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (BAE):

• Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (BAE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (BAE) is Cuneo International Airport (CUF), which is located 51 miles (82 kilometers) ENE of BAE.
• In addition to being known as "Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport", another name for BAE is "Aéroport de Barcelonnette-Saint-Pons".
• The furthest airport from Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (BAE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (meaning Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,280 miles (19,762 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.