Nonstop flight route between Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, United States and Butare, Rwanda:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kincheloe Air Force Base (INR), Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, United States and Butare Airport (BTQ), Butare, Rwanda would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,491 miles (or 12,056 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 Kincheloe Air Force Base and Butare 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 Kincheloe Air Force Base and Butare 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 Kincheloe Air Force Base (INR):

• On 18 August 1955, the 534th ADS was inactivated and immediately replaced by the 507th Fighter Group in a name-only re-designation.
• The furthest airport from Kincheloe Air Force Base (INR) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,103 miles (17,869 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• On 2 February 1959, Strategic Air Command established the 4239th Strategic Wing at Kincheloe AFB, Michigan as part of SAC's plan to disburse its B-52 Stratofortress heavy bombers over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike.
• In 1962, in order to retain the lineage of its MAJCOM 4-digit combat units and to perpetuate the lineage of many currently inactive bombardment units with illustrious World War II records, Headquarters SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its MAJCOM strategic wings that were equipped with combat aircraft and to activate AFCON units, most of which were inactive at the time which could carry a lineage and history.
• The importance of Kincheloe AFB to ADC was evident in 1960 with some major changes.
• The closest airport to Kincheloe Air Force Base (INR) is Chippewa County International Airport (CIU), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of INR.
• As a result of the phase down, ADC moved the 438th Fighter Interceptor Squadron to Griffiss AFB, New York.
• On 16 February 1953, the first operational ADC unit, the 534th Air Defense Group was activated at Kinross AFB.

Facts about Butare Airport (BTQ):

• In addition to being known as "Butare Airport", another name for BTQ is "Butare".
• The closest airport to Butare Airport (BTQ) is Kirundo Airport (KRE), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) E of BTQ.
• The furthest airport from Butare Airport (BTQ) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is located 11,946 miles (19,224 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.
• Because of Butare Airport's high elevation of 5,801 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at BTQ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make BTQ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Butare Airport, is located in the city of Butare, in Huye District, Southern Province.
• Butare Airport (BTQ) currently has only 1 runway.