Nonstop flight route between Santa Maria, California, United States and Wrightstown, New Jersey, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX), Santa Maria, California, United States and McGuire AFB (WRI), Wrightstown, New Jersey, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,512 miles (or 4,043 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 Public Airport and McGuire AFB, 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 Public Airport and McGuire AFB. 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 Public Airport (SMX):

• Santa Maria Public Airport is three miles south of Santa Maria, in northern Santa Barbara County, California.
• Because of Santa Maria Public Airport's relatively low elevation of 261 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Maria Public 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 closest airport to Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) is Vandenberg Air Force Base (VBG), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SSW of SMX.
• The furthest airport from Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,466 miles (18,453 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• Other enhancements include a new passenger terminal holding room that opened February 2008.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Public Airport", another name for SMX is "Capt. G. Allan Hancock FieldSanta Maria Army Airfield".
• At one point during the early 1980's Swift Aire Lines, which was based at the nearby San Luis Obispo Airport, was the only airline flying nonstop between Santa Maria and Los Angeles, primarily with Fokker F27 Friendship turboprops which the carrier had purchased new from the manufacturer.
• Santa Maria Public Airport (SMX) has 2 runways.

Facts about McGuire AFB (WRI):

• Flight operations to support Camp Dix at an adjacent airfield took place as early as 1926.
• With the closure of the Bomarc site, the by then renamed Aerospace Defense Command ended its activities at McGuire AFB.
• McGuire the only base in both the Air Mobility Command and the entire U.S.
• The closest airport to McGuire AFB (WRI) is JB MDL Lakehurst (NEL), which is located only 13 miles (20 kilometers) E of WRI.
• In addition to being known as "McGuire AFB", another name for WRI is "McGuire AFB/JB MDL McGuire".
• Developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineers and scientists, SAGE monitored North American skies for possible attack by manned aircraft and missiles for 25 years.
• The furthest airport from McGuire AFB (WRI) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,757 miles (18,921 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The 52d Fighter Wing, All Weather was assigned to the base, being moved from Mitchel Field, Long Island on 4 October 1949.
• These squadrons flew a variety of ADC interceptors in the 1950s, starting with the F-94 Starfire in 1952, upgrading to the F-84 Thunderjet in 1953, and finally the interceptor F-86D Sabre later in 1953.