Nonstop flight route between Big Spring, Texas, United States and Tôlanaro, Madagascar:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States and Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), Tôlanaro, Madagascar would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,470 miles (or 16,849 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 Tôlanaro 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 Tôlanaro 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 Air Force established a standard wing structure—a dual deputy concept—in 1963.
• The facility first was used by the United States Army Air Forces as Big Spring Army Air Field, opening on 28 April 1942 as part of the Central Flying Training Command.
• 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.
• Big Spring Army Airfield
• 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.
• Activated on 26 June 1942, the mission of Big Spring AAF was to train aviation cadets in high altitude precision bombing as bombardiers.
• 331st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Tôlanaro Airport (FTU):

• In addition to being known as "Tôlanaro Airport", another name for FTU is "Marillac Airport".
• The closest airport to Tôlanaro Airport (FTU) is Ampanihy Airport (AMP), which is located 141 miles (227 kilometers) W of FTU.
• Because of Tôlanaro Airport's relatively low elevation of 20 feet, planes can take off or land at Tôlanaro 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 furthest airport from Tôlanaro Airport (FTU) is Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG), which is located 11,435 miles (18,402 kilometers) away in Lompoc, California, United States.
• Tôlanaro Airport (FTU) currently has only 1 runway.