Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Los Banos, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Los Banos Municipal Airport (LSN), Los Banos, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 873 miles (or 1,406 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 Malmstrom Air Force Base and Los Banos Municipal Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA):

• 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.
• This included one of the greatest technology transfers in the history of the world.
• 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.
• The North American Aerospace Defense Command was created in 1957.
• In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
• 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.
• 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.
• Great Falls was reassigned to the Central Air Defense Force at Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base in 1953.
• Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union increased dramatically when the Soviet Union closed all land travel between the western occupation sectors of Germany and the American, French and British sectors of Berlin.
• MATS reopened the C-54 Flight Training School as the 1272 Medium Transition Training Unit in May 1950, one month before the Korean War began.

Facts about Los Banos Municipal Airport (LSN):

• For the 12-month period ending June 15, 2011, the airport had 16,000 general aviation aircraft operations, an average of 44 per day.
• Los Banos Municipal Airport (LSN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Los Banos Municipal Airport (LSN) is Merced Regional Airport (MCE), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) NE of LSN.
• Historically a release of hazardous materials to the environment has occurred at the airport.
• The furthest airport from Los Banos Municipal Airport (LSN) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,339 miles (18,248 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Los Banos Municipal Airport covers an area of 101 acres which contains one asphalt paved runway measuring 3,801 x 75 ft.
• Rinse water from maintenance operations flows into a storm drainage system and pesticide chemicals, which have previously contaminated soil and groundwater on the site, may have been introduced to the environment via this route.
• Because of Los Banos Municipal Airport's relatively low elevation of 121 feet, planes can take off or land at Los Banos Municipal 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.