Nonstop flight route between Guangyuan, Sichuan, China and Minot, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Guangyuan Airport (GYS), Guangyuan, Sichuan, China and Minot Air Force Base (MIB), Minot, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,609 miles (or 10,635 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 Guangyuan Airport and Minot 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 Guangyuan Airport and Minot 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 Guangyuan Airport (GYS):

• The closest airport to Guangyuan Airport (GYS) is Mianyang Nanjiao Airport (MIG), which is located 87 miles (140 kilometers) SW of GYS.
• The furthest airport from Guangyuan Airport (GYS) is Viña del Mar Airport (KNA), which is nearly antipodal to Guangyuan Airport (meaning Guangyuan Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Viña del Mar Airport), and is located 12,268 miles (19,744 kilometers) away in Viña del Mar, Chile.
• In addition to being known as "Guangyuan Airport", other names for GYS include "广元机场" and "Guǎngyuán Jīchǎng".
• Because of Guangyuan Airport's high elevation of 14,472 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GYS. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GYS a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

Facts about Minot Air Force Base (MIB):

• On 1 February 1963, SAC, as part of a conversion to unit designations with historical significance, activated the 450th Bombardment Wing at Minot and the 720th Bombardment Squadron, along with the formation of the 450th Airborne Missile Maintenance Squadron, 450th Armament & Electronics Maintenance Squadron, 450th Field Maintenance Squadron, and the 450th Organizational Maintenance Squadron simultaneously.
• The closest airport to Minot Air Force Base (MIB) is Minot International Airport (MOT), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) SSE of MIB.
• The initial USAF host unit was the Air Defense Command 32d Air Base Group, activating on 8 February 1957.
• In addition to being known as "Minot Air Force Base", another name for MIB is "Minot AFB".
• The furthest airport from Minot Air Force Base (MIB) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,320 miles (16,609 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The 5th Bomb Wing is an element of the Global Strike Command and is the host unit at Minot AFB.
• The 91st Maintenance Group is the maintenance backbone of the 91st Missile Wing, originally activated as the 91st Maintenance and Supply Group on 10 November 1948.
• The 4th Post Attack Command & Control Squadron at Ellsworth AFB, SD maintained several EC-135 "Looking Glass" Aircraft on an alert at MAFB for coverage of the missile squadrons as a secondary Launch Control Center.