Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Castro, Chile:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GFA to WCA:
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- About this route
- GFA Airport Information
- WCA Airport Information
- Facts about GFA
- Facts about WCA
- Map of Nearest Airports to GFA
- List of Nearest Airports to GFA
- Map of Furthest Airports from GFA
- List of Furthest Airports from GFA
- Map of Nearest Airports to WCA
- List of Nearest Airports to WCA
- Map of Furthest Airports from WCA
- List of Furthest Airports from WCA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Gamboa Airport (WCA), Castro, Chile would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,624 miles (or 10,661 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 Gamboa 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 Gamboa Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | GFA / KGFA |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Great Falls, Montana, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 47°30'16"N by 111°11'13"W |
| View all routes: | Routes from GFA |
| More Information: | GFA Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | WCA / SCST |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Castro, Chile |
| GPS Coordinates: | 42°29'17"S by 73°46'30"W |
| Area Served: | Castro, Chile |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 187 feet (57 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from WCA |
| More Information: | WCA Maps & Info |
Facts about Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA):
- 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.
- Following World War II, Great Falls Army Air Base played an important role in US defense during the Cold War era.
- 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 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 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.
- On 21 August 1954 the 407th SFW Vice Commander, Colonel Einar Axel Malmstrom, died when his T-33 Shooting Star trainer crashed approximately one mile west of the Great Falls Municipal Airport.
- In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
- This included one of the greatest technology transfers in the history of the world.
Facts about Gamboa Airport (WCA):
- In addition to being known as "Gamboa Airport", another name for WCA is "Aeródromo Gamboa".
- Because of Gamboa Airport's relatively low elevation of 187 feet, planes can take off or land at Gamboa 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 Gamboa Airport (WCA) is Mocopulli Airport (MHC), which is located only 11 miles (17 kilometers) NNE of WCA.
- Gamboa Airport (WCA) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Gamboa Airport (WCA) is Wuhai Airport (WUA), which is nearly antipodal to Gamboa Airport (meaning Gamboa Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Wuhai Airport), and is located 12,248 miles (19,711 kilometers) away in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia, China.
