Nonstop flight route between Gladwin, Michigan, United States and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gladwin Zettel Memorial Airport (GDW), Gladwin, Michigan, United States and Santos Dumont Airport (SDU), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,309 miles (or 8,544 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 Gladwin Zettel Memorial Airport and Santos Dumont 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 Gladwin Zettel Memorial Airport and Santos Dumont 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 Gladwin Zettel Memorial Airport (GDW):

• For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2009, the airport had 4,454 general aviation aircraft operations, an average of 12 per day.
• The furthest airport from Gladwin Zettel Memorial Airport (GDW) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,182 miles (17,995 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Gladwin Zettel Memorial Airport (GDW) has 2 runways.
• Because of Gladwin Zettel Memorial Airport's relatively low elevation of 774 feet, planes can take off or land at Gladwin Zettel Memorial 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 Gladwin Zettel Memorial Airport (GDW) is Mount Pleasant Municipal Airport (MOP), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) SSW of GDW.

Facts about Santos Dumont Airport (SDU):

• Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) is Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2 (IWO), which is nearly antipodal to Santos Dumont Airport (meaning Santos Dumont Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2), and is located 12,125 miles (19,513 kilometers) away in Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands, Japan.
• Santos Dumont Airport is the second major airport serving Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
• Because of Santos Dumont Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at Santos Dumont 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.
• Santos Dumont Airport handled 9,204,603 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Santos Dumont Airport", another name for SDU is "Aeroporto Santos Dumont".
• On 21 May 1959 a formal agreement between Varig, Cruzeiro do Sul, and VASP created an air shuttle service, the first of its kind in the world.
• In 1934, in order to handle a growing amount of land operations, land was reclaimed from the sea to create the first runway of the airport with a length of 1,300 feet.
• The closest airport to Santos Dumont Airport (SDU) is Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) NW of SDU.
• The airport is located adjacent to downtown Rio de Janeiro.