Nonstop flight route between Glendale, Arizona, United States and Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field (LUF), Glendale, Arizona, United States and Santa Cruz Air Force Base (SNZ), Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,965 miles (or 9,599 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 Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field and Santa Cruz 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 Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field and Santa Cruz 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 Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field (LUF):

• In addition to being known as "Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field", another name for LUF is "Luke AFB".
• In addition to flying and maintaining the F-16, Luke airmen also deploy to support on-going operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and to combatant commanders in other locations around the world.
• The furthest airport from Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field (LUF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,450 miles (18,426 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The program was to be conducted by the Federalized Michigan Air National Guard 127th Fighter Group, which had transferred from Continental Air Command to ATC, effective 10 February.
• Soon after combat developed in Korea, Luke field was reactivated on 1 February 1951 as Luke Air Force Base, part of the Air Training Command under the reorganized United States Air Force.
• The closest airport to Luke Air Force BaseLuke Field (LUF) is Phoenix Goodyear Airport (GYR), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) S of LUF.
• Born in Phoenix in 1897, the "Arizona Balloon Buster" scored 18 aerial victories during World War I in the skies over France.

Facts about Santa Cruz Air Force Base (SNZ):

• The furthest airport from Santa Cruz Air Force Base (SNZ) is Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2 (IWO), which is nearly antipodal to Santa Cruz Air Force Base (meaning Santa Cruz Air Force Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2), and is located 12,093 miles (19,462 kilometers) away in Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands, Japan.
• Because of Santa Cruz Air Force Base's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Cruz Air Force Base 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.
• The closest airport to Santa Cruz Air Force Base (SNZ) is Rio de Janeiro/Galeão–Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport (GIG), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) ENE of SNZ.
• Santa Cruz Air Force Base (SNZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Additionally, the base has one U-7A and two U-42 for administrative missions.
• On 3 May 1982 a British Avro Vulcan bomber was intercepted by the aircraft of the 1° Grupo de Aviação de Caça based at Santa Cruz.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Cruz Air Force Base", another name for SNZ is "Base Aérea de Santa Cruz".