Nonstop flight route between Big Spring, Texas, United States and Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States and Mainz Finthen Airport (QMZ), Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,320 miles (or 8,561 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 Mainz Finthen 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 Mainz Finthen 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):

• 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.
• In 1968, ATC established a single phase-pilot training squadron concept at Webb.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Mainz Finthen Airport (QMZ):

• Because of Mainz Finthen Airport's relatively low elevation of 525 feet, planes can take off or land at Mainz Finthen 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 Mainz Finthen Airport (QMZ) is Lucius D. Clay KaserneWiesbaden Army AirfieldWiesbaden Air BaseAdvanced Landing Ground Y-80Fliegerhorst Wiesbaden (WIE), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) NE of QMZ.
• The airport was first opened in 1939 as a Luftwaffe military airfield.
• The United States Army operates a Radar station at the airport.
• The airport serves the general aviation community, with no commercial airline service available.
• In addition to being known as "Mainz Finthen Airport", other names for QMZ include "Flugplatz Mainz-Finthen" and "Advanced Landing Ground Y-64".
• As part of their commitment to NATO, United States Army forces returned to the Mainz area, and took over the airfield, which was renamed Finthen Army Airfield.
• Mainz Finthen Airport (QMZ) has 2 runways.
• On 16 and 17 November 1980, Holy Mass was celebrated by Pope John Paul II during his first major pastoral visit to Germany on the airfield with thousands of believers attending.
• From Ober-Olm JG 52 and 76 were involved in the air fighting during the Battle of France, both units moving west along with the advancing German forces.
• The airport was taken over by the French military in July 1945, and engineers moved in to clear the wartime wreckage and rebuild the facility.
• The furthest airport from Mainz Finthen Airport (QMZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,959 miles (19,246 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.