Nonstop flight route between Mekane Selam, Ethiopia and Big Spring, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mekane Selam Airport (MKS), Mekane Selam, Ethiopia and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,477 miles (or 13,642 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 Mekane Selam 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 Mekane Selam 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 Mekane Selam Airport (MKS):

• The closest airport to Mekane Selam Airport (MKS) is Combolcha Airport (DSE), which is located 70 miles (113 kilometers) ENE of MKS.
• The furthest airport from Mekane Selam Airport (MKS) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is nearly antipodal to Mekane Selam Airport (meaning Mekane Selam Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Atuona Airport), and is located 12,270 miles (19,747 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
• In addition to being known as "Mekane Selam Airport", another name for MKS is "Mekane Selam".

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.
• 331st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
• In its continuing effort to cut costs, ATC made some major changes in the undergraduate pilot training program.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.