Nonstop flight route between Big Spring, Texas, United States and Coimbra, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States and Coimbra Airport (CBP), Coimbra, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,973 miles (or 8,004 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 Coimbra 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 Coimbra 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):

• By 1960, the consolidated pilot training program meant the consolidation of preflight, primary, and basic instruction into one school.
• 78th Flying Training Wing
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Coimbra Airport (CBP):

• Because of Coimbra Airport's relatively low elevation of 571 feet, planes can take off or land at Coimbra 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.
• Coimbra Airport (CBP) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Coimbra Airport (CBP) is Covilhã Airport (COV), which is located 53 miles (85 kilometers) E of CBP.
• The furthest airport from Coimbra Airport (CBP) is Takaka Aerodrome (KTF), which is nearly antipodal to Coimbra Airport (meaning Coimbra Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Takaka Aerodrome), and is located 12,352 miles (19,879 kilometers) away in Takaka, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Coimbra Airport", another name for CBP is "Aeródromo Municipal Bissaya Barreto".