Nonstop flight route between Mmabatho, South Africa and Big Spring, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mafikeng Airport (MBD), Mmabatho, South Africa and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,239 miles (or 14,869 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 Mafikeng 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 Mafikeng 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 Mafikeng Airport (MBD):

• The closest airport to Mafikeng Airport (MBD) is Lobatse Airport (LOQ), which is located 43 miles (70 kilometers) NNE of MBD.
• Mafikeng Airport (MBD) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Mafikeng Airport (MBD) is Kalaupapa Airport (LUP), which is nearly antipodal to Mafikeng Airport (meaning Mafikeng Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Kalaupapa Airport), and is located 12,081 miles (19,443 kilometers) away in Kalaupapa, Hawaii, United States.
• In addition to being known as "Mafikeng Airport", another name for MBD is "Mmabatho Airport".
• Because of Mafikeng Airport's high elevation of 4,181 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MBD. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MBD a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

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

• By 1960, the consolidated pilot training program meant the consolidation of preflight, primary, and basic instruction into one school.
• 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.
• Big Spring Army Airfield
• 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.
• 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.
• Construction of the Army Air Forces Bombardier School began on 15 May 1942, and the airfield received its first class of cadets on 16 September 1942.
• The AT-11 which was activated to replace the separate air and ground units.
• 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.