Nonstop flight route between Big Spring, Texas, United States and El Banco, Colombia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States and Las Flores Airport (ELB), El Banco, Colombia would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,458 miles (or 8,783 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 Las Flores 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 Las Flores 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):

• 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.
• Webb Air Force Base, previously named Big Spring Air Force Base, was a United States Air Force facility of the Air Training Command that operated from 1951 to 1977 in west Texas within the current city limits of Big Spring.
• 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 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.
• In 1968, ATC established a single phase-pilot training squadron concept at Webb.
• 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.
• 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.
• Webb AFB was turned over to the General Services Agency for disposal on 1 January 1978 and the property later turned over to the Big Spring Industrial Park.

Facts about Las Flores Airport (ELB):

• Because of Las Flores Airport's relatively low elevation of 38 feet, planes can take off or land at Las Flores 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 Las Flores Airport (ELB) is Tandil Airport (TDL), which is located 80 miles (129 kilometers) S of ELB.
• The furthest airport from Las Flores Airport (ELB) is Qingdao Liuting International Airport (TAO), which is nearly antipodal to Las Flores Airport (meaning Las Flores Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Qingdao Liuting International Airport), and is located 12,405 miles (19,963 kilometers) away in Qingdao, Shandong, China.
• Las Flores Airport (ELB) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Las Flores Airport", other names for ELB include "Las Flores Airport (Las Flores)", "Aeropuerto Las Flores", "FLO" and "SAEL".