Nonstop flight route between Qingyang, Gansu, China and Spokane, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Qingyang Airport (IQN), Qingyang, Gansu, China and Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA), Spokane, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,031 miles (or 9,707 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 Qingyang Airport and Fairchild 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 Qingyang Airport and Fairchild 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 Qingyang Airport (IQN):

• The furthest airport from Qingyang Airport (IQN) is General Bernardo O'Higgins Airport (YAI), which is nearly antipodal to Qingyang Airport (meaning Qingyang Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from General Bernardo O'Higgins Airport), and is located 12,379 miles (19,922 kilometers) away in Chillán, Ñuble, Chile.
• In addition to being known as "Qingyang Airport", other names for IQN include "庆阳机场" and "Qìngyáng Jīchǎng".
• The closest airport to Qingyang Airport (IQN) is Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY), which is located 114 miles (183 kilometers) SE of IQN.

Facts about Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA):

• The host unit at Fairchild is the 92d Air Refueling Wing assigned to the Air Mobility Command's Eighteenth Air Force.
• In June 1992, with the inactivation of Strategic Air Command, the B-52 portion of the wing became part of the newly established Air Combat Command and was re-designated the 92d Bomb Wing.
• As military operations in Vietnam escalated in the mid-1960s, the demand for air refueling increased.
• The furthest airport from Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,665 miles (17,163 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• The closest airport to Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA) is Spokane International Airport (GEG), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) E of SKA.
• Fairchild is home to a wide variety of units and missions.
• In addition to being known as "Fairchild Air Force Base", another name for SKA is "Fairchild AFB".
• To provide air defense of the base, U.S.
• In late 1974, the Air Force announced plans to convert the 141st Fighter Interceptor Group of the Washington Air National Guard, an F-101 Voodoo unit at Geiger Field, to an air refueling mission with KC-135 aircraft.
• On 23 January 1987, following the inactivation of the 47th Air Division at Fairchild, the 92nd Bombardment Wing was reassigned to the 57th Air Division at Minot AFB, North Dakota.
• 7 December 1993 marked the beginning of a significant change in the mission of Fairchild when the B-52s were transferred to another ACC base while the KC-135s, now assigned to the newly established Air Mobility Command would remain.