Nonstop flight route between Oamaru, North Otago, New Zealand and Wichita Falls, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Oamaru Airport (OAM), Oamaru, North Otago, New Zealand and Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS), Wichita Falls, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,845 miles (or 12,625 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 Oamaru Airport and Sheppard 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 Oamaru Airport and Sheppard 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 Oamaru Airport (OAM):

• Because of Oamaru Airport's relatively low elevation of 99 feet, planes can take off or land at Oamaru 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.
• Oamaru Airport (OAM) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from Oamaru Airport (OAM) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is nearly antipodal to Oamaru Airport (meaning Oamaru Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from A Coruña Airport), and is located 12,318 miles (19,825 kilometers) away in A Coruña, Spain.
• On 10 December 1960 South Pacific Airlines of New Zealand commenced a Douglas DC-3 service linking Oamaru north to Timaru and Christchurch and south to Alexandra and Invercargill.
• When scheduled services resumed in 2006 and the first BAe Jetstream 32EP arrived from Christchurch a crowd of approximately 500 people were present to view its landing.
• The closest airport to Oamaru Airport (OAM) is Richard Pearse Airport (Timaru Airport) (TIU), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) N of OAM.
• Regular scheduled services were withdrawn in 1989.

Facts about Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS):

• It was officially opened as an Army Air Corps training center on 17 October 1941, following the arrival of the first military members on 14 June.
• In February 1992, restructuring and downsizing of the Air Force caused a realignment and renumbering of units at Sheppard.
• The closest airport to Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS) is Kickapoo Downtown Airport (KIP), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) S of SPS.
• In addition to being known as "Sheppard Air Force Base", another name for SPS is "Sheppard AFB".
• The furthest airport from Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,952 miles (17,626 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Helicopter pilot training was transferred from Stead AFB, Nevada in October 1965, with H-19, H-43, Bell TH-1F, CH-3C and HH-3E helicopters used for training.
• As of September 2013, Brigadier General Scott Kindsvater is the commander of the 82d Training Wing, and he concurrently serves as the installation commander of Sheppard AFB.