Nonstop flight route between Groote Eylandt, Northern Territory, Australia and San Antonio, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Groote Eylandt Airport (GTE), Groote Eylandt, Northern Territory, Australia and Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF), San Antonio, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,781 miles (or 14,131 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 Groote Eylandt Airport and Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio, 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 Groote Eylandt Airport and Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio. 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 Groote Eylandt Airport (GTE):

• The closest airport to Groote Eylandt Airport (GTE) is Lake Evella Airport (LEL), which is located 111 miles (179 kilometers) NNW of GTE.
• Groote Eylandt Airport (GTE) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Groote Eylandt Airport's relatively low elevation of 53 feet, planes can take off or land at Groote Eylandt 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 furthest airport from Groote Eylandt Airport (GTE) is Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY), which is located 11,564 miles (18,611 kilometers) away in Cayenne, French Guiana.

Facts about Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF):

• On 1 February 1953 the 741st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was activated at Lackland 29°23′16.4″N 98°37′59.9″W / 29.387889°N 98.633306°W / 29.387889.
• The Vietnam War buildup necessitated a "split-phase" training from August 1965 to April 1966.
• No other item in the 1960s compared to the incident that occurred at Lackland in February 1966 with the death of a basic trainee.
• In October 2008 the BMT was expanded an extra two weeks to implement more air base defense training as well as other rudimentary skills.
• The furthest airport from Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,124 miles (17,902 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF) is Stinson Municipal Airport (SSF), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) ESE of SKF.
• Construction on Lackland Air Force Base began on 15 Jun, 1941, and it was originally part of Kelly Field.
• From the Cold War demise, base realignment and closure actions in the 1990s relocated several specialized training programs at Lackland.
• On 3 Feb 1948, the facility was named Lackland AFB after Brigadier General Frank Lackland, who was commissioned into the regular Army after serving in the National Guard, District of Columbia.