Nonstop flight route between Wichita Falls, Texas, United States and Tusayan, Arizona, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from SPS to GCN:
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- About this route
- SPS Airport Information
- GCN Airport Information
- Facts about SPS
- Facts about GCN
- Map of Nearest Airports to SPS
- List of Nearest Airports to SPS
- Map of Furthest Airports from SPS
- List of Furthest Airports from SPS
- Map of Nearest Airports to GCN
- List of Nearest Airports to GCN
- Map of Furthest Airports from GCN
- List of Furthest Airports from GCN
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS), Wichita Falls, Texas, United States and Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN), Tusayan, Arizona, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 784 miles (or 1,262 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 relatively short distance between Sheppard Air Force Base and Grand Canyon National Park Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | SPS / KSPS |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Wichita Falls, Texas, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 33°59'20"N by 98°29'30"W |
| View all routes: | Routes from SPS |
| More Information: | SPS Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | GCN / KGCN |
| Airport Name: | Grand Canyon National Park Airport |
| Location: | Tusayan, Arizona, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 35°57'7"N by 112°8'48"W |
| Area Served: | Grand Canyon |
| Operator/Owner: | State of Arizona |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 6609 feet (2,014 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from GCN |
| More Information: | GCN Maps & Info |
Facts about Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS):
- The host unit at Sheppard is the 82d Training Wing, which provides specialized technical training, medical, and field training for officers, Airmen, and civilians of all branches of the military, other DoD agencies, and foreign nationals.
- As of September 2013, Brigadier General Scott Kindsvater is the commander of the 82d Training Wing, and he concurrently serves as the installation commander of Sheppard AFB.
- Comptroller, transportation, and intelligence training moved to Sheppard from Lowry AFB, Colorado, in the fall of 1954.
- The 80th Flying Training Wing, also at Sheppard, conducts the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program, a multi-nationally manned and managed flying training program chartered to produce combat pilots for both USAF and NATO.
- In addition to being known as "Sheppard Air Force Base", another name for SPS is "Sheppard AFB".
- Sheppard Air Force Base is named in honor of Senator John Morris Sheppard of Texas, chairman of the Senate Military Affairs Committee from 1933 until his death on 9 April 1941.
- 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.
- Between 1960 and 1966 the Strategic Air Command had training units stationed at the base that conducted aerospace rescue schools and weather instruction.
- 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.
- Sheppard Field reached its peak strength of 46,340 people while serving as a separation center for troops being discharged following World War II from September through November 1945.
Facts about Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN):
- The furthest airport from Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,285 miles (18,162 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN) currently has only 1 runway.
- Because of Grand Canyon National Park Airport's high elevation of 6,609 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GCN. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GCN a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- The closest airport to Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN) is Valle Airport (VLE), which is located 21 miles (34 kilometers) S of GCN.
- Historically, Grand Canyon National Park Airport had scheduled passenger jet service provided at different times in the past provided by several airlines which included Republic Airlines, Hughes Airwest, Air West and TriStar Airlines.
- In addition, the airport was served in the past by America West Airlines operating de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8 turboprop aircraft to Las Vegas and Phoenix.
- As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 294,436 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008 and 354,624 enplanements in 2007.
