Nonstop flight route between Wichita Falls, Texas, United States and Santander, Cantabria, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS), Wichita Falls, Texas, United States and Santander Airport (SDR), Santander, Cantabria, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,865 miles (or 7,829 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 Santander 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 Santander 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):

• 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 3630th Flying Training Wing was activated in 1965, and it assumed the helicopter training program.
• 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 80th FTW mission is to provide combat airpower by producing top quality fighter pilots for the NATO alliance.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Santander Airport (SDR):

• The closest airport to Santander Airport (SDR) is Bilbao Airport (BIO), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) E of SDR.
• The furthest airport from Santander Airport (SDR) is Kaikoura Aerodrome (KBZ), which is nearly antipodal to Santander Airport (meaning Santander Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Kaikoura Aerodrome), and is located 12,289 miles (19,777 kilometers) away in Kaikoura, New Zealand.
• Santander Airport (SDR) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Santander Airport's relatively low elevation of 16 feet, planes can take off or land at Santander 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.
• In addition to being known as "Santander Airport", other names for SDR include "Aeropuerto de Santander" and "Aeropuerto de Parayas".