Nonstop flight route between Wichita Falls, Texas, United States and Albury, New South Wales, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS), Wichita Falls, Texas, United States and Albury Airport (ABX), Albury, New South Wales, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,804 miles (or 14,168 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 Sheppard Air Force Base and Albury 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 Sheppard Air Force Base and Albury 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 Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS):

• The aircraft mechanics school was transferred to Sheppard from Keesler AFB, Mississippi in April 1949 to make room for expansion of electronic training at that base.
• The Department of Defense proposed a major realignment of the base, as part of the Base Realignment and Closure program announced on 13 May 2005.
• In addition to being known as "Sheppard Air Force Base", another name for SPS is "Sheppard AFB".
• The host unit on Sheppard Air Force Base is the 82nd Training Wing whose mission makes it the most diversified training base within the Air Education and Training Command.
• The closest airport to Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS) is Kickapoo Downtown Airport (KIP), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) S of SPS.
• Control and accountability for Sheppard Field was transferred to the Department of the Air Force 1 August 1948 and was reactivated 15 August 1948 to supplement Lackland AFB, Texas, as a basic training center renamed as Sheppard AFB.
• Helicopter pilot training was transferred from Stead AFB, Nevada in October 1965, with H-19, H-43, Bell TH-1F, CH-3C and HH-3E helicopters used for training.
• The furthest airport from Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,952 miles (17,626 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.

Facts about Albury Airport (ABX):

• Albury Airport handled 284,535 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Albury Airport (ABX) is Corowa Airport (CWW), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) W of ABX.
• Albury Airport (ABX) currently has only 1 runway.
• Virgin Australia launched services to Albury on 5 February 2008 with double-daily Embraer 170 services-one of its first new ports served by the aircraft.
• The furthest airport from Albury Airport (ABX) is Flores Airport (FLW), which is nearly antipodal to Albury Airport (meaning Albury Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Flores Airport), and is located 12,180 miles (19,602 kilometers) away in Flores Island, Azores, Portugal.
• Because of Albury Airport's relatively low elevation of 539 feet, planes can take off or land at Albury 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.