Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, Portugal and Peru, Indiana, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Airport (SMA), Santa Maria, Portugal and Grissom Air Reserve Base (GUS), Peru, Indiana, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,227 miles (or 5,193 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 Grissom Air Reserve 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 Grissom Air Reserve 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):

• 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.
• The closest airport to Santa Maria Airport (SMA) is João Paulo II Airport (PDL), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) NNW of SMA.
• It has one runway which is 3,048 m × 60 m.
• Santa Maria Airport (SMA) currently has only 1 runway.
• Santa Maria Airport handled 93,436 passengers last year.
• The airport at Santa Maria was part of a larger complex of buildings and infrastructures constructed in the 20th century.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for SMA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
• Transportes Aéreos Portugueses began lay-over flights to this airport on 7 December 1962, eventually inaugurating trans-Atlantic service between Santa Maria-New York and Santa Maria-Montreal.
• 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.
• 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 Grissom Air Reserve Base (GUS):

• The 305th Air Refueling Wing, Heavy, provided tanker support to units involved in the United States invasion of Panama in December 1989.
• The closest airport to Grissom Air Reserve Base (GUS) is Kokomo Municipal Airport (OKK), which is located only 10 miles (15 kilometers) SSE of GUS.
• Until the retirement of the Space Shuttle on 21 July 2011, Grissom was listed as one of the emergency landing sites due to its 12,000 ft runway
• The furthest airport from Grissom Air Reserve Base (GUS) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,184 miles (17,998 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Strategic Air Command on 1 June 1959 moved the 305th Bombardment Wing, Medium, from MacDill Air Force Base in Florida to Bunker Hill Air Force Base.
• The United States Navy on 1 July 1942 started Naval Air Station Bunker Hill to train Navy, United States Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard pilots.
• After World War II, the base area reverted to farming use.
• In addition to being known as "Grissom Air Reserve Base", another name for GUS is "Grissom ARS".