Nonstop flight route between Big Spring, Texas, United States and Maitland, New South Wales, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States and Maitland Airport (MTL), Maitland, New South Wales, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,273 miles (or 13,315 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 Maitland 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 Maitland 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 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.
• Instruction of the first class began in April 1952.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 Maitland Airport (MTL):

• Maitland Airport (MTL) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from Maitland Airport (MTL) is Santa Maria Airport (SMA), which is nearly antipodal to Maitland Airport (meaning Maitland Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Santa Maria Airport), and is located 12,086 miles (19,451 kilometers) away in Santa Maria, Portugal.
• In addition to being known as "Maitland Airport", another name for MTL is "Russell Field".
• The airfield's primary user is the Royal Newcastle Aero Club who provide aircraft hire and general aviation flight training, in addition to the management and maintenance of the facilities.
• During the 1980s, a local company called Club Air linked the airport with Sydney using two 14 seat Australian built GAF Nomad aircraft.
• The closest airport to Maitland Airport (MTL) is Cessnock Airport (CES), which is located only 10 miles (17 kilometers) SW of MTL.
• Because of Maitland Airport's relatively low elevation of 85 feet, planes can take off or land at Maitland 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.