Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Thargomindah, Queensland, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Thargomindah Airport (XTG), Thargomindah, Queensland, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,293 miles (or 13,346 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 Thargomindah 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 Thargomindah 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):

• In late 1962 missiles assigned to 341st would play a major role in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
• Originally named Great Falls Army Air Base, later Great Falls Air Force Base, the facility was renamed Malmstrom Air Force Base on 1 October 1955 in honor of Colonel Einar Axel Malmstrom.
• At Great Falls, P-39 Airacobras, C-47 Skytrains, B-25 Mitchells, and A-20 Havocs aircraft.
• Great Falls AAB was assigned to II Bomber Command, Second Air Force.
• Great Falls was reassigned to the Central Air Defense Force at Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base in 1953.
• 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.
• DC-20 was initially under the Great Falls Air Defense Sector, established on 1 March 1959.
• Z-147 was completely replaced by a new ARSR-4 JSS site on Bootlegger Ridge, about 14 miles northeast of Great Falls AFB.
• In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
• Great Falls played a major aerial defense role in North American air defense mission.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Thargomindah Airport (XTG):

• The furthest airport from Thargomindah Airport (XTG) is Flores Airport (FLW), which is located 11,593 miles (18,657 kilometers) away in Flores Island, Azores, Portugal.
• Because of Thargomindah Airport's relatively low elevation of 433 feet, planes can take off or land at Thargomindah 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 Thargomindah Airport (XTG) is Cunnamulla Airport (CMA), which is located 111 miles (178 kilometers) E of XTG.
• Thargomindah Airport (XTG) has 2 runways.