Nonstop flight route between Belo Horizonte, Brazil and Wichita Falls, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Belo Horizonte/Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport (PLU), Belo Horizonte, Brazil and Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS), Wichita Falls, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,167 miles (or 8,315 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 Belo Horizonte/Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade 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 Belo Horizonte/Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade 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 Belo Horizonte/Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport (PLU):

• In addition to being known as "Belo Horizonte/Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport", another name for PLU is "Aeroporto de Belo Horizonte/Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade".
• The closest airport to Belo Horizonte/Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport (PLU) is Tancredo Neves/Confins International Airport (CNF), which is located only 16 miles (25 kilometers) N of PLU.
• However, due to the long distance between Belo Horizonte and Confins, Pampulha remained the airport of choice for most airlines, eventually becoming overcrowded, while Confins was under-used.
• Pampulha Airport was opened in 1933 as a support facility for the passenger flights operated by the Brazilian Air Force between Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza.
• Belo Horizonte/Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport (PLU) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 1943 the runway was extended to 1,500m x 45m, in 1953 to 1,700m, and finally in 1961 to 2,505m.
• Belo Horizonte/Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport handled 989,599 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Belo Horizonte/Pampulha–Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport (PLU) is Central Field (Iwo Jima)Motoyama No. 2Airfield No. 2 (IWO), which is located 11,958 miles (19,244 kilometers) away in Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands, Japan.

Facts about Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS):

• In February 1992, restructuring and downsizing of the Air Force caused a realignment and renumbering of units at Sheppard.
• 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.
• 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.
• During World War II, then-Sheppard Field conducted basic training, and it also trained glider mechanics, technical and flying training instructors and B-29 Superfortress flight engineers.
• The 3950th Technical Training Wing was designated the Sheppard Technical Training Center 1 January 1959.
• 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".
• 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.
• The host unit at Sheppard is the 82d Training Wing, which provides specialized technical training, medical, and field training for officers, Airmen, and civilians of all branches of the military, other DoD agencies, and foreign nationals.