Nonstop flight route between Fort Stockton, Texas, United States and Istres, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport (FST), Fort Stockton, Texas, United States and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,570 miles (or 8,964 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 Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport and Istres-Le Tubé Air 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 Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport and Istres-Le Tubé Air 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 Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport (FST):

• In addition to being known as "Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport", another name for FST is "Gibbs Army Airfield".
• Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport (FST) has 4 runways.
• The closest airport to Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport (FST) is Pecos Municipal Airport (PEQ), which is located 48 miles (77 kilometers) NW of FST.
• Inactivated on 12 March 1944 with the drawdown of AAFTC's pilot training program.
• The airport opened as Gibbs Field, or Fort Stockton Field and was used by the United States Army Air Forces as a training base during World War II.
• Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport is two miles NW of Fort Stockton, Texas and is owned and operated by Pecos County, Texas.
• The furthest airport from Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport (FST) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,286 miles (18,163 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.

Facts about Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE):

• Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) is Marseille Provence Airport (MRS), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) ESE of QIE.
• In addition to being known as "Istres-Le Tubé Air Base", another name for QIE is "Base aérienne 125 Istres (BA 125)Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) Y-17".
• Because of Istres-Le Tubé Air Base's relatively low elevation of 162 feet, planes can take off or land at Istres-Le Tubé Air Base 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 furthest airport from Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (meaning Istres-Le Tubé Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,364 miles (19,898 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Sometime after World War II, until May 1958 Base Aérienne 125 was host to the Royal Air Force Liaison Party, that serviced transient British and Commonwealth military aircraft staging to and from the United Kingdom.
• C135FR "GRV 093 Bretagne"