Nonstop flight route between Wichita Falls, Texas, United States and Natori, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS), Wichita Falls, Texas, United States and Sendai Airport (SDJ), Natori, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,165 miles (or 9,922 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 Sendai 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 Sendai 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):

• In addition to being known as "Sheppard Air Force Base", another name for SPS is "Sheppard AFB".
• 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 80th Flying Training Wing began conducting the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program in 1981.
• Additionally, officers from all 13 participating nations fill subordinate leadership positions throughout the wing.
• 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.
• 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.
• Comptroller, transportation, and intelligence training moved to Sheppard from Lowry AFB, Colorado, in the fall of 1954.
• 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.
• 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 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.

Facts about Sendai Airport (SDJ):

• The closest airport to Sendai Airport (SDJ) is Yamagata Airport (GAJ), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) WNW of SDJ.
• Although most international services from Sendai came back online following the 2011 disaster, most services between Sendai and China were suspended or cancelled between 2012 and 2013 due to worsened Sino-Japanese relations.
• In 1992, Runway B was extended further to 2,500 metres and 5 years later, in 1997, a new terminal was opened.
• In addition to being known as "Sendai Airport", other names for SDJ include "仙台空港" and "Sendai Kūkō".
• The furthest airport from Sendai Airport (SDJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,588 miles (18,650 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• The airport has 8 Jet bridges to handle aircraft coming and leaving the airport.
• Because of Sendai Airport's relatively low elevation of 6 feet, planes can take off or land at Sendai 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.
• Sendai Airport (SDJ) has 2 runways.
• To the south side of the airport are the facilities for small private aircraft, helipads and aircraft hangars.