Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Lubumbashi International Airport (FBM), Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,996 miles (or 14,477 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 Malmstrom Air Force Base and Lubumbashi International 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 Malmstrom Air Force Base and Lubumbashi International 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 Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA):

• Construction of the wing's first launch facility began in March 1961 and was completed in December.
• Malmstrom Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place in Great Falls, Cascade County, Montana, United States.
• Later, the 517th Air Transport Wing was redesginated the 1701st Air Transport Wing on 1 June 1948 when Air Transport Command was redesignated the Military Air Transport Service.
• In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
• Upon completion of the B-17 training program, in October 1943, Great Falls Army Air Base was transferred to the Air Transport Command and units from Gore Field were transferred to the base.
• The furthest airport from Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,495 miles (16,891 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Great Falls AAB was assigned to II Bomber Command, Second Air Force.
• The closest airport to Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA) is Great Falls International Airport (GTF), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) W of GFA.
• Aircraft shipments to the Soviet Union stopped in September 1945, when World War II ended, with approximately 8,000 aircraft having been processed in a 21-month period.
• Z-147 was completely replaced by a new ARSR-4 JSS site on Bootlegger Ridge, about 14 miles northeast of Great Falls AFB.
• In 1957, under the control of the 801st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, the Malmstrom AFB radar station became operational with AN/FPS-20 search and AN/FPS-6 height-finder radars.

Facts about Lubumbashi International Airport (FBM):

• Lubumbashi International Airport (FBM) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Lubumbashi International Airport (FBM) is Kasompe Airport (CGJ), which is located 72 miles (116 kilometers) SSE of FBM.
• Because of Lubumbashi International Airport's high elevation of 4,295 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at FBM. Combined with a high temperature, this could make FBM a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Lubumbashi International Airport is an airport in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• The furthest airport from Lubumbashi International Airport (FBM) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is located 11,850 miles (19,070 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.