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):

• At Great Falls, P-39 Airacobras, C-47 Skytrains, B-25 Mitchells, and A-20 Havocs aircraft.
• In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
• In 1959 a SAGE data center was established at Malmstrom.
• 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.
• With the development of the three-stage, solid-fuel Minuteman I missile in the late 1950s SAC began searching for sites to deploy this revolutionary weapon.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• DC-20 was initially under the Great Falls Air Defense Sector, established on 1 March 1959.
• Malmstrom Air Force Base traces its beginnings back to 1939 when World War II broke out in Europe.

Facts about Mianyang Nanjiao Airport (MIG):

• The closest airport to Mianyang Nanjiao Airport (MIG) is Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU), which is located 75 miles (121 kilometers) SW of MIG.
• 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.
• Mianyang Nanjiao Airport handled 622,816 passengers last year.
• Mianyang Nanjiao Airport (MIG) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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".