Nonstop flight route between Gweru, Zimbabwe and Abilene, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE), Gweru, Zimbabwe and Dyess Air Force Base (DYS), Abilene, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,217 miles (or 14,833 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 Gweru-Thornhill Air Base and Dyess Air Force Base, 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 Gweru-Thornhill Air Base and Dyess Air Force Base. 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 Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE):

• Because of Gweru-Thornhill Air Base's high elevation of 4,680 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GWE. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GWE a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE) is Masvingo Airport (MVZ), which is located 78 miles (125 kilometers) ESE of GWE.
• Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is nearly antipodal to Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (meaning Gweru-Thornhill Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hilo International Airport), and is located 12,117 miles (19,500 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.

Facts about Dyess Air Force Base (DYS):

• In 1942, the United States Army Air Forces built Tye Army Air Field, as it was popularly known, on the site of what is now known as Dyess AFB.
• In addition to being known as "Dyess Air Force Base", another name for DYS is "Dyess AFB".
• The host unit at Dyess is the 7th Bomb Wing of the Air Combat Command, which was activated on 1 October 1993.
• The closest airport to Dyess Air Force Base (DYS) is Abilene Regional Airport (ABI), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) E of DYS.
• Dyess' first active combat unit was the 341st Bombardment Wing, which activated on 1 September 1955.
• Shortly after the Korean War broke out, the city of Abilene called for the need of a military installation.
• Units stationed at Dyess Air Force Base while the 5/517th was operational included SAC's 819th Strategic Aerospace Division, the 96th BW, and the 578th Strategic Missile Squadron.
• The base is located in the southwest corner of Abilene, TX and is about 200 miles west of Dallas.
• The furthest airport from Dyess Air Force Base (DYS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,080 miles (17,831 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• On 1 December 1956, the name of the base was changed to "Dyess Air Force Base" in honor of the late Lt Col William E.
• Dyess AFB is also home to several tenant units, including Air Force Office of Special Investigations Detachment 222.
• Dyess AFB is a 6,409-acre base with over 13,000 military and civilian people.
• The base is named after Lt Col William Edwin Dyess, a native of Albany, Texas, who was captured by the Japanese on Bataan in April 1942.
• The 317th Airlift Group, an Air Mobility Command tenant unit, performs Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules airlift missions with 28 aircraft assigned.