Nonstop flight route between Beauvais, France and Wichita Falls, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Beauvais–Tillé Airport (BVA), Beauvais, France and Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS), Wichita Falls, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,905 miles (or 7,895 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 Beauvais–Tillé Airport and Sheppard 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 Beauvais–Tillé Airport and Sheppard 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 Beauvais–Tillé Airport (BVA):

• The initial German use of the airport was as a bomber base.
• This airport was built in the 1930s and seized by the Germans in June 1940 during the Battle of France.
• Beauvais–Tillé Airport (BVA) has 2 runways.
• From Beauvais, the Ninth Air Force 322d Bombardment Group flew B-26 Marauder medium bombers from mid-September until March 1945.
• Beauvais–Tillé Airport handled 386,256 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Beauvais–Tillé Airport", another name for BVA is "Aéroport de Beauvais-TilléAdvanced Landing Ground (ALG) A-61/B-42".
• The closest airport to Beauvais–Tillé Airport (BVA) is Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome (QAM), which is located 31 miles (51 kilometers) NNE of BVA.
• Because of Beauvais–Tillé Airport's relatively low elevation of 359 feet, planes can take off or land at Beauvais–Tillé 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 airport is equipped to handle medium-sized passenger jets.
• With the Luftwaffe switching to night attacks on England, the badly damaged units at Beauvais were replaced by a series of He 111 and Ju 88A units that carried out anti-shipping missions.
• The furthest airport from Beauvais–Tillé Airport (BVA) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Beauvais–Tillé Airport (meaning Beauvais–Tillé Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,041 miles (19,378 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The increasing number and frequency of USAAF Eighth Air Force Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator daylight heavy bomber raids over occupied Europe and Germany made the Luftwaffe move out the bomber units and assign day interceptor fighter units to attack the American bombers as part of the Defense of the Reich.

Facts about Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS):

• In addition to being known as "Sheppard Air Force Base", another name for SPS is "Sheppard AFB".
• The closest airport to Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS) is Kickapoo Downtown Airport (KIP), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) S of SPS.
• Sheppard Field reached its peak strength of 46,340 people while serving as a separation center for troops being discharged following World War II from September through November 1945.
• The furthest airport from Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,952 miles (17,626 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The host unit at Sheppard is the 82d Training Wing, which provides specialized technical training, medical, and field training for officers, Airmen, and civilians of all branches of the military, other DoD agencies, and foreign nationals.
• The 3630th Flying Training Wing was activated in 1965, and it assumed the helicopter training program.