Nonstop flight route between Big Spring, Texas, United States and Zanderij (near Paramaribo), Suriname:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States and Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (PBM), Zanderij (near Paramaribo), Suriname would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,509 miles (or 5,648 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 Johan Adolf Pengel International 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 Johan Adolf Pengel International 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):

• Activated on 26 June 1942, the mission of Big Spring AAF was to train aviation cadets in high altitude precision bombing as bombardiers.
• 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.
• 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 airfield and flight line was converted to an uncontrolled/UNICOM-only general aviation airport renamed Big Spring McMahon-Wrinkle Airport, serving the City of Big Spring.
• 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.

Facts about Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (PBM):

• At Zandery, the unit shuttled from Zandery to Atkinson Field, British Guiana and, by January 1942, had eight Curtiss P-40C Warhawks assigned.
• As of May 2013, the following passenger airlines operate at the airport
• Because of Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport's relatively low elevation of 59 feet, planes can take off or land at Johan Adolf Pengel International 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 Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (PBM) is Zorg en Hoop Airport (ORG), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) N of PBM.
• The furthest airport from Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (PBM) is Betoambari Airport (BUW), which is nearly antipodal to Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (meaning Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Betoambari Airport), and is located 12,282 miles (19,767 kilometers) away in Bau-Bau, Buton, Indonesia.
• Just before the Pearl Harbor Attack, on 3 December, the 99th Squadron was ordered to distant Zandery Field, Dutch Guiana under an agreement with the Netherlands government-in-exile, by which the United States occupied the colony to protect bauxite mines.
• Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (PBM) currently has only 1 runway.