Nonstop flight route between Wichita Falls, Texas, United States and Karratha / Dampier, Western Australia, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS), Wichita Falls, Texas, United States and Karratha Airport (KTA), Karratha / Dampier, Western Australia, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,101 miles (or 16,256 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 Karratha 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 Karratha 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 closest airport to Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS) is Kickapoo Downtown Airport (KIP), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) S of SPS.
• 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.
• During World War II, then-Sheppard Field conducted basic training, and it also trained glider mechanics, technical and flying training instructors and B-29 Superfortress flight engineers.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Over the next three decades three training schools were stationed at the base training students in aircraft maintenance, transportation, communication, civil engineering, Aircrew Life Support and field training.
• The 3630th Flying Training Wing was activated in 1965, and it assumed the helicopter training program.
• It was officially opened as an Army Air Corps training center on 17 October 1941, following the arrival of the first military members on 14 June.
• The 80th FTW mission is to provide combat airpower by producing top quality fighter pilots for the NATO alliance.
• The 3950th Technical Training Wing was designated the Sheppard Technical Training Center 1 January 1959.
• In addition to being known as "Sheppard Air Force Base", another name for SPS is "Sheppard AFB".

Facts about Karratha Airport (KTA):

• Karratha Airport (KTA) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Karratha Airport's relatively low elevation of 32 feet, planes can take off or land at Karratha 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 Karratha Airport (KTA) is Barrow Island Airport (BWB), which is located 89 miles (143 kilometers) W of KTA.
• The furthest airport from Karratha Airport (KTA) is Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport (AXA), which is nearly antipodal to Karratha Airport (meaning Karratha Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport), and is located 12,263 miles (19,736 kilometers) away in The Valley, Anguilla.
• Karratha Airport handled 675,207 passengers last year.