Nonstop flight route between Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Big Spring, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hatfield Aerodrome (HTF), Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,944 miles (or 7,956 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 Hatfield Aerodrome and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield, 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 Hatfield Aerodrome and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield. 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 Hatfield Aerodrome (HTF):

• A hard runway was laid in 1947.
• The redevelopment of the main airfield site commenced in the late 1990s.
• Geoffrey de Havilland, pioneering aircraft designer and founder of the de Havilland Aircraft Company purchased some farmland close to Hatfield as his existing site at Stag Lane, Edgware was being encroached upon by expanding housing developments in the London suburbs.
• The Hatfield Aerodrome History Trail was officially opened on 24 November 2010.
• The closest airport to Hatfield Aerodrome (HTF) is London Luton Airport (LTN), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) NNW of HTF.
• Because of Hatfield Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 254 feet, planes can take off or land at Hatfield Aerodrome 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.
• Hatfield Aerodrome (HTF) has 2 runways.
• De Havilland had been developing and manufacturing propellers and piston engines in addition to airframes.
• The furthest airport from Hatfield Aerodrome (HTF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,860 miles (19,086 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.

Facts about Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS):

• In 1956, the Air Defense Command 331st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was transferred to Webb from Stewart Air Force Base in New York to defend the southern United States border on air intercept missions as part of the Central Air Defense Force.
• 331st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
• Construction of the Army Air Forces Bombardier School began on 15 May 1942, and the airfield received its first class of cadets on 16 September 1942.
• By the mid-1970s, the end of the Vietnam War, the associated financial costs of that conflict and related cuts in USAF force structure and future defense budgets meant a marked decrease in the need for Air Force pilots.
• The closest airport to Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS) is Midland Airpark (MDD), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) WSW of BGS.
• Webb Air Force Base, previously named Big Spring Air Force Base, was a United States Air Force facility of the Air Training Command that operated from 1951 to 1977 in west Texas within the current city limits of Big Spring.
• Activated on 26 June 1942, the mission of Big Spring AAF was to train aviation cadets in high altitude precision bombing as bombardiers.
• The furthest airport from Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,166 miles (17,969 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.