Nonstop flight route between Betou, Republic of the Congo and Spokane, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Bétou Airport (BTB), Betou, Republic of the Congo and Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA), Spokane, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,049 miles (or 12,954 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 Bétou Airport and Fairchild Air Force Base, 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 Bétou Airport and Fairchild Air Force Base. 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 Bétou Airport (BTB):

• The furthest airport from Bétou Airport (BTB) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is located 11,986 miles (19,290 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.
• The closest airport to Bétou Airport (BTB) is Bangui M'Poko International Airport (BGF), which is located 93 miles (150 kilometers) N of BTB.

Facts about Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA):

• In addition to being known as "Fairchild Air Force Base", another name for SKA is "Fairchild AFB".
• In 1956 the wing began a conversion that brought the B-52 Stratofortress to Fairchild, followed by the KC-135 Stratotanker in 1958.
• In late 1974, the Air Force announced plans to convert the 141st Fighter Interceptor Group of the Washington Air National Guard, an F-101 Voodoo unit at Geiger Field, to an air refueling mission with KC-135 aircraft.
• The closest airport to Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA) is Spokane International Airport (GEG), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) E of SKA.
• As an added incentive to the War Department, many Spokane businesses and public-minded citizens donated money to purchase land for the base.
• 7 December 1993 marked the beginning of a significant change in the mission of Fairchild when the B-52s were transferred to another ACC base while the KC-135s, now assigned to the newly established Air Mobility Command would remain.
• Over 5,100 active duty Air Force, Air National Guard, and tenant organization military and civilian employees work on Fairchild, making the base the largest employer in Eastern Washington.
• The furthest airport from Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,665 miles (17,163 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• As military operations in Vietnam escalated in the mid-1960s, the demand for air refueling increased.