Nonstop flight route between Lae, Papua New Guinea, Papua New Guinea and Del Rio, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lae Nadzab Airport (LAE), Lae, Papua New Guinea, Papua New Guinea and Laughlin Air Force Base (DLF), Del Rio, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,793 miles (or 12,542 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 Lae Nadzab Airport and Laughlin 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 Lae Nadzab Airport and Laughlin 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 Lae Nadzab Airport (LAE):

• In 1962, the main strip at Nadzab was resealed by the Australian Commonwealth Department of Works and lengthened to make it suitable for Mirage fighters, even though they never materialised.
• The closest airport to Lae Nadzab Airport (LAE) is Bulolo Airport (BUL), which is located 45 miles (72 kilometers) S of LAE.
• Two parallel runways were built, running roughly east to west.
• The furthest airport from Lae Nadzab Airport (LAE) is Governador Carlos Wilson Airport (FEN), which is located 11,714 miles (18,852 kilometers) away in Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco, Brazil.
• In March 1942, the Japanese occupied Lae and Salamaua.
• Lae Nadzab Airport (LAE) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Lae Nadzab Airport's relatively low elevation of 239 feet, planes can take off or land at Lae Nadzab Airport 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.

Facts about Laughlin Air Force Base (DLF):

• Another 4080th pilot, Major Rudolf Anderson, Jr., perished when his U-2 was hit by shrapnel from a Soviet-made SA-2 on October 22, 1962 while overflying Cuba from McCoy AFB.
• Laughlin Air Force Base is a facility of the United States Air Force located in Del Rio, Texas.
• The furthest airport from Laughlin Air Force Base (DLF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,241 miles (18,091 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• There were 651 households out of which 56.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 82.8% were married couples living together, 3.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 12.3% were non-families.
• The closest airport to Laughlin Air Force Base (DLF) is Del Rio International Airport (DRT), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) W of DLF.
• Laughlin U-2s were among the first to provide photographic evidence of Soviet missile installations in Cuba in 1962 when 4080th U-2 pilot Major Steve Heyser flew his U-2C over Cuba after taking off from Edwards AFB, California.
• Today, aircraft flown at Laughlin include the T-6A Texan II, the T-38C Talon and T-1A Jayhawk.