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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wonderboom Airport (PRY), Pretoria, South Africa and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,391 miles (or 15,114 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 Wonderboom 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 Wonderboom 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 Wonderboom Airport (PRY):

• Airport management passed to the Greater Pretoria Metropolitan Council in December 1994.
• The airport was opened in 1937, being built on the farm Wonderboom approximately 15 km north of Pretoria.
• In 2007, plans were mooted by the City of Pretoria for scheduled passenger service from Wonderboom Airport.
• The closest airport to Wonderboom Airport (PRY) is Grand Central Airport (GCJ), which is located 24 miles (38 kilometers) SSW of PRY.
• Wonderboom Airport (PRY) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Wonderboom Airport (PRY) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is nearly antipodal to Wonderboom Airport (meaning Wonderboom Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hana Airport), and is located 12,007 miles (19,323 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
• Because of Wonderboom Airport's high elevation of 4,095 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at PRY. Combined with a high temperature, this could make PRY 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):

• Perhaps the most dominant feature on the ATC landscape in 1974 was the serious fuel shortage the command had to contend with for much of the year.
• 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.
• 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.
• Activated on 26 June 1942, the mission of Big Spring AAF was to train aviation cadets in high altitude precision bombing as bombardiers.
• 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.
• 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.