Nonstop flight route between Lyon, France and Big Spring, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lyon–Bron Airport (LYN), Lyon, France and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,363 miles (or 8,631 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 Lyon–Bron 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 Lyon–Bron 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 Lyon–Bron Airport (LYN):

• Because of Lyon–Bron Airport's relatively low elevation of 659 feet, planes can take off or land at Lyon–Bron 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.
• After the Normandy Invasion of France by Allied Forces, the USAAF 50th Fighter Group used the airport flying P-47 Thunderbolts in support of ground forces in Southern France from September 25 though November, 1944.
• The airport was established in 1920 and became an international airport in 1924 with flights to Geneva, Switzerland.
• In 1975 commercial airline traffic was moved to the new Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport, and Bron Airport is now used for general aviation.
• Lyon–Bron Airport (LYN) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Lyon–Bron Airport", another name for LYN is "Aéroport de Lyon-BronAdvanced Landing Ground (ALG) Y-6".
• The furthest airport from Lyon–Bron Airport (LYN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Lyon–Bron Airport (meaning Lyon–Bron Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,288 miles (19,775 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Lyon–Bron Airport (LYN) is Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) E of LYN.

Facts about Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS):

• 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.
• In 1956, the Air Defense Command 331st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was transferred to Webb from Stewart Air Force Base in New York to defend the southern United States border on air intercept missions as part of the Central Air Defense Force.
• 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.
• In its continuing effort to cut costs, ATC made some major changes in the undergraduate pilot training program.
• At that time, nearly 6,000 students had graduated and the field's training aircraft had flown approximately 400,000 hours and more than 60 million miles.
• 331st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
• 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.