Nonstop flight route between Great Bend, Kansas, United States and Spokane, Washington, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GBD to SKA:
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- About this route
- GBD Airport Information
- SKA Airport Information
- Facts about GBD
- Facts about SKA
- Map of Nearest Airports to GBD
- List of Nearest Airports to GBD
- Map of Furthest Airports from GBD
- List of Furthest Airports from GBD
- Map of Nearest Airports to SKA
- List of Nearest Airports to SKA
- Map of Furthest Airports from SKA
- List of Furthest Airports from SKA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Great Bend Municipal Airport (GBD), Great Bend, Kansas, United States and Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA), Spokane, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,141 miles (or 1,836 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 relatively short distance between Great Bend Municipal Airport and Fairchild Air Force Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | GBD / KGBD |
| Airport Name: | Great Bend Municipal Airport |
| Location: | Great Bend, Kansas, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 38°20'39"N by 98°51'33"W |
| Area Served: | Great Bend, Kansas |
| Operator/Owner: | City of Great Bend |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 1887 feet (575 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from GBD |
| More Information: | GBD Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | SKA / KSKA |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Spokane, Washington, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 47°36'54"N by 117°39'20"W |
| View all routes: | Routes from SKA |
| More Information: | SKA Maps & Info |
Facts about Great Bend Municipal Airport (GBD):
- The closest airport to Great Bend Municipal Airport (GBD) is Hays Regional Airport (HYS), which is located 41 miles (66 kilometers) NNW of GBD.
- The airport is the site of the first nationwide NHRA event, held in 1955.
- Great Bend Municipal Airport (GBD) has 2 runways.
- The furthest airport from Great Bend Municipal Airport (GBD) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,769 miles (17,331 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
Facts about Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA):
- 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.
- 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.
- In addition to being known as "Fairchild Air Force Base", another name for SKA is "Fairchild AFB".
- The host unit at Fairchild is the 92d Air Refueling Wing assigned to the Air Mobility Command's Eighteenth Air Force.
- As military operations in Vietnam escalated in the mid-1960s, the demand for air refueling increased.
- 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.
- On 1 July 1994, the 92d Bomb Wing was re-designated the 92d Air Refueling Wing, and Fairchild AFB was transferred from ACC to Air Mobility Command in a ceremony marking the creation of the largest air refueling wing in the Air Force.
- The weapons storage area for the bombers was located south of the runway at Deep Creek Air Force Station, a separate installation constructed from 1950 to 1953 by the Atomic Energy Commission and operated by the Air Materiel Command.
- From 1942 until 1946, the base served as a repair depot for damaged aircraft returning from the Pacific Theater.
