Nonstop flight route between Montgomery, Alabama, United States and Daocheng, Sichuan, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Maxwell Air Force Base (MXF), Montgomery, Alabama, United States and Daocheng Yading Airport (DCY), Daocheng, Sichuan, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,153 miles (or 13,121 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 Maxwell Air Force Base and Daocheng Yading Airport, 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 Maxwell Air Force Base and Daocheng Yading Airport. 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 Maxwell Air Force Base (MXF):

• On December 17, 1929, Congressman Lister Hill introduced a bill to appropriate $320,000 for the acquiring of 1,075 acres of land in Montgomery County as a part of an expansion program for Maxwell Field.
• The furthest airport from Maxwell Air Force Base (MXF) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,193 miles (18,013 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• By early 1928 the decision of the attack group had come down to Shreveport, Louisiana, and Montgomery.
• The only operational flying unit at Maxwell is the Air Force Reserve Command's 908th Airlift Wing and subordinate 357th Airlift Squadron, which operates eight C-130H aircraft.
• The closest airport to Maxwell Air Force Base (MXF) is Montgomery Regional Airport (MGM), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) SSW of MXF.
• Maxwell Field, as most Army air stations and depots developed during World War I, was on leased properties with temporary buildings being the mainstay of construction.
• In addition to being known as "Maxwell Air Force Base", another name for MXF is "Maxwell AFB".
• On January 25, 1930, President Herbert Hoover asked Congress to re-appropriate an additional $100,000 for the main school building at Maxwell Field.

Facts about Daocheng Yading Airport (DCY):

• The closest airport to Daocheng Yading Airport (DCY) is Dêqên Shangri-La Airport (DIG), which is located 108 miles (174 kilometers) SSW of DCY.
• Daocheng Yading Airport is an airport serving Daocheng County in the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan province, China.
• Daocheng Yading Airport (DCY) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Daocheng Yading Airport (DCY) is La Florida Airport (LSC), which is located 11,910 miles (19,167 kilometers) away in La Serena, Chile.
• Because of Daocheng Yading Airport's high elevation of 14,472 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at DCY. Combined with a high temperature, this could make DCY a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The airport was opened with a single scheduled flight between Daocheng and Chengdu, and flights to Chongqing and Barkam are expected to begin before 1 October 2013.
• In addition to being known as "Daocheng Yading Airport", other names for DCY include "稻城亚丁机场", "Dàochéng Yàdīng Jīchǎng" and "ZUDC".