Nonstop flight route between San Antonio, Texas, United States and Castro, Chile:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF), San Antonio, Texas, United States and Gamboa Airport (WCA), Castro, Chile would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,211 miles (or 8,386 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 Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio and Gamboa 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 Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio and Gamboa 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 Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF):

• Today the Lackland ADC site has been taken over by the FAA and remains in operation.
• Lackland AFB is part of Joint Base San Antonio, an amalgamation of the United States Army Fort Sam Houston, the United States Air Force Randolph Air Force Base and Lackland Air Force Base, which were merged on 1 October 2010.
• The Vietnam War buildup necessitated a "split-phase" training from August 1965 to April 1966.
• The closest airport to Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF) is Stinson Municipal Airport (SSF), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) ESE of SKF.
• Lackland, like many other Air Education and Training Command bases, trains enlisted airmen out of basic training in a specific specialty via various "tech schools." Lackland currently has six technical training squadrons on base training multiple airmen in various Air Force Specialty Codes.
• In October 2008 the BMT was expanded an extra two weeks to implement more air base defense training as well as other rudimentary skills.
• By late 1959 Lackland was also performing air-traffic-control duties for the Federal Aviation Administration.
• In 1965 AN/FPS-20A was upgraded to an AN/FPS-91A radar, then in 1969 it was modified to an AN/FPS-66A.
• The furthest airport from Lackland Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (SKF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,124 miles (17,902 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.

Facts about Gamboa Airport (WCA):

• In addition to being known as "Gamboa Airport", another name for WCA is "Aeródromo Gamboa".
• The closest airport to Gamboa Airport (WCA) is Mocopulli Airport (MHC), which is located only 11 miles (17 kilometers) NNE of WCA.
• Gamboa Airport (WCA) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Gamboa Airport's relatively low elevation of 187 feet, planes can take off or land at Gamboa 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.
• The furthest airport from Gamboa Airport (WCA) is Wuhai Airport (WUA), which is nearly antipodal to Gamboa Airport (meaning Gamboa Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Wuhai Airport), and is located 12,248 miles (19,711 kilometers) away in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia, China.