Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Dayton, Ohio, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (FFO), Dayton, Ohio, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,136 miles (or 5,047 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 Santa Maria Airport and Wright-Patterson 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 Santa Maria Airport and Wright-Patterson 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 Santa Maria Airport (SMA):

• For a while, Air France's supersonic Concordes were routed to Santa Maria on refueling layovers between Paris and Caracas.
• A chartered Boeing 707-300, Independent Air Flight 1851 from Bergamo, Italy in 1989 crashed on approach to Santa Maria Airport, when it struck the Pico Alto mountain.
• Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
• Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Santa Maria Airport (SMA) is Moruya Airport (MYA), which is nearly antipodal to Santa Maria Airport (meaning Santa Maria Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Moruya Airport), and is located 12,166 miles (19,579 kilometers) away in Moruya, New South Wales, Australia.
• It was built in the context of the Second World War, by US troops in order to maintain supply lines to Europe, and inaugurated on 26 July 1945.
• The closest airport to Santa Maria Airport (SMA) is João Paulo II Airport (PDL), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) NNW of SMA.
• Because of Santa Maria Airport's relatively low elevation of 308 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Maria 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.

Facts about Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (FFO):

• The furthest airport from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (FFO) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,306 miles (18,195 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In 1954, 465 acres of land adjacent to the Mad River at the northeast boundary of the base, near the former location of the village of Osborn, were purchased for a Strategic Air Command dispersal site.
• It is the headquarters of the Air Force Materiel Command, one of the major commands of the Air Force.
• World War I transfers of land that later became WPAFB include 2,075-acre along the Mad River leased to the Army by the Miami Conservancy District, the adjacent 40 acres purchased by the Army from the District for the Fairfield Aviation General Supply Depot, and a 254-acre complex for McCook Field located just north of downtown Dayton between Keowee Street and the Great Miami River.
• In addition to being known as "Wright-Patterson Air Force Base", another name for FFO is "Wright-Patterson AFB".
• It is also the home base of the 445th Airlift Wing of the Air Force Reserve Command, an Air Mobility Command-gained unit which flies the C-17 Globemaster heavy airlifter.
• Wright-Patterson AFB was established in 1948 as a merger of Patterson and Wright Fields.
• The area's World War II Army Air Fields had employment increase from approximately 3,700 in December 1939 to over 50,000 at the war's peak.
• The closest airport to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (FFO) is James M. Cox Dayton International Airport (DAY), which is located only 11 miles (17 kilometers) WNW of FFO.