Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Mianyang, Sichuan, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Mianyang Nanjiao Airport (MIG), Mianyang, Sichuan, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,544 miles (or 10,532 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 Mianyang Nanjiao 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 Mianyang Nanjiao 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):

• DC-20 was initially under the Great Falls Air Defense Sector, established on 1 March 1959.
• At Great Falls, P-39 Airacobras, C-47 Skytrains, B-25 Mitchells, and A-20 Havocs aircraft.
• In late 1962 missiles assigned to 341st would play a major role in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
• Great Falls became the temporary home of the 582nd Air Resupply and Communications Wing on 1 May 1953 which was transferred from Mountain Home AFB, Idaho.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Mianyang Nanjiao Airport (MIG):

• Mianyang Nanjiao Airport handled 622,816 passengers last year.
• Mianyang Nanjiao Airport has a 2,400-meter runway capable of handling major aircraft including the Boeing 737.
• In addition to being known as "Mianyang Nanjiao Airport", other names for MIG include "绵阳南郊机场" and "Miányáng Nánjiāo Jīchǎng".
• Mianyang Nanjiao Airport (MIG) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Mianyang Nanjiao Airport (MIG) is Viña del Mar Airport (KNA), which is nearly antipodal to Mianyang Nanjiao Airport (meaning Mianyang Nanjiao Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Viña del Mar Airport), and is located 12,192 miles (19,621 kilometers) away in Viña del Mar, Chile.
• The closest airport to Mianyang Nanjiao Airport (MIG) is Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU), which is located 75 miles (121 kilometers) SW of MIG.