Nonstop flight route between San Diego, California, United States and Great Falls, Montana, United States:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from SDM to GFA:
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- About this route
- SDM Airport Information
- GFA Airport Information
- Facts about SDM
- Facts about GFA
- Map of Nearest Airports to SDM
- List of Nearest Airports to SDM
- Map of Furthest Airports from SDM
- List of Furthest Airports from SDM
- Map of Nearest Airports to GFA
- List of Nearest Airports to GFA
- Map of Furthest Airports from GFA
- List of Furthest Airports from GFA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Brown Field Municipal Airport (SDM), San Diego, California, United States and Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,075 miles (or 1,731 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 relatively short distance between Brown Field Municipal Airport and Malmstrom Air Force Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SDM / KSDM |
Airport Name: | Brown Field Municipal Airport |
Location: | San Diego, California, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 32°34'19"N by 116°58'49"W |
Area Served: | San Diego, California |
Operator/Owner: | City of San Diego |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 526 feet (160 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from SDM |
More Information: | SDM Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | GFA / KGFA |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Great Falls, Montana, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 47°30'16"N by 111°11'13"W |
View all routes: | Routes from GFA |
More Information: | GFA Maps & Info |
Facts about Brown Field Municipal Airport (SDM):
- Brown Field Municipal Airport (SDM) has 2 runways.
- In 1946 the Navy decommissioned Brown Field and turned it over to San Diego County.
- The furthest airport from Brown Field Municipal Airport (SDM) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,551 miles (18,590 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- Because of Brown Field Municipal Airport's relatively low elevation of 526 feet, planes can take off or land at Brown Field Municipal 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.
- Tijuana Airport, an airline airport, is just over 1 nmi to the south across the Mexico-United States border, with a similar length and a slightly different runway orientation.
- On March 16, 1991, seven members of Reba McEntire's band and her road manager were among 10 people who died in the crash of a plane that departed from Brown Field.
- Brown Field Municipal Airport is in the Otay Mesa neighborhood of San Diego, California, 13 miles southeast of Downtown San Diego and named in honor of Commander Melville S.
- The closest airport to Brown Field Municipal Airport (SDM) is Tijuana International Airport (TIJ), which is located only 2 miles (4 kilometers) SSE of SDM.
Facts about Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA):
- The furthest airport from Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,495 miles (16,891 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- In 1957, under the control of the 801st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, the Malmstrom AFB radar station became operational with AN/FPS-20 search and AN/FPS-6 height-finder radars.
- Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union increased dramatically when the Soviet Union closed all land travel between the western occupation sectors of Germany and the American, French and British sectors of Berlin.
- In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
- The North American Aerospace Defense Command was created in 1957.
- Great Falls AAB was assigned to II Bomber Command, Second Air Force.
- The closest airport to Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA) is Great Falls International Airport (GTF), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) W of GFA.
- Great Falls was reassigned to the Central Air Defense Force at Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base in 1953.