Nonstop flight route between Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, Australia and Big Spring, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lord Howe Island Airport (LDH), Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, Australia and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,833 miles (or 12,606 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 Lord Howe Island Airport 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 Lord Howe Island Airport 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 Lord Howe Island Airport (LDH):

• The closest airport to Lord Howe Island Airport (LDH) is Coffs Harbour Airport (CFS), which is located 363 miles (584 kilometers) WNW of LDH.
• Lord Howe Island Airport is a regional and international airport providing air transportation to Lord Howe Island.
• Lord Howe Island Airport (LDH) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Lord Howe Island Airport (LDH) is Madeira Airport (FNC), which is nearly antipodal to Lord Howe Island Airport (meaning Lord Howe Island Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Madeira Airport), and is located 12,181 miles (19,604 kilometers) away in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal.
• Lord Howe Island Airport served 33,385 revenue passengers during financial year 2009-2010,ranking it 64th amongst airports in Australia.
• Because of Lord Howe Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 17 feet, planes can take off or land at Lord Howe Island 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 Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS):

• 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.
• Perhaps the most dominant feature on the ATC landscape in 1974 was the serious fuel shortage the command had to contend with for much of the year.
• 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.
• In 1968, ATC established a single phase-pilot training squadron concept at Webb.
• 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 AFB was turned over to the General Services Agency for disposal on 1 January 1978 and the property later turned over to the Big Spring Industrial Park.
• 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.
• The airfield was activated as Big Spring Air Force Base on 1 October 1951 by the United States Air Force Air Training Command and established the 3560th Pilot Training Wing.
• At Webb AFB, the last two pilot training classes completed course work on 30 August 1977, and fixed wing qualification training ended on 1 September 1977.