Nonstop flight route between Lajes, Azores, Portugal and Fort Worth, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lajes Air Base (TER), Lajes, Azores, Portugal and Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base (FWH), Fort Worth, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,868 miles (or 6,226 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 Lajes Air Base and Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, 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 Lajes Air Base and Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base. 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 Lajes Air Base (TER):

• The United States and the United Kingdom transferred control of Lajes to Portugal in 1946.
• Another important Cold War operation at Lajes was the U.S.
• The base also supports other NATO and non-NATO armed forces assets crossing the Atlantic for transport, VIP, exercise, relief or humanitarian duties.
• Today, Lajes continues to support transiting aircraft.
• Lajes Air Base (TER) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Lajes Air Base", other names for TER include "Base Aérea das Lajes", "Base Aérea Nº 4" and "Aeroporto das Lajes".
• The furthest airport from Lajes Air Base (TER) is Merimbula Airport (MIM), which is nearly antipodal to Lajes Air Base (meaning Lajes Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Merimbula Airport), and is located 12,229 miles (19,680 kilometers) away in Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia.
• The closest airport to Lajes Air Base (TER) is Graciosa Airport (GRW), which is located 55 miles (89 kilometers) WNW of TER.
• Because of Lajes Air Base's relatively low elevation of 180 feet, planes can take off or land at Lajes Air Base 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.
• Lajes supported the large airlift during the Gulf War.

Facts about Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base (FWH):

• Aircraft types initially based at NAS Fort Worth JRB were the F-14 Tomcat, F/A-18 Hornet and C-9B Skytrain II.
• The furthest airport from Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base (FWH) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,950 miles (17,623 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• On September 20, 2009, the airport was used as a refueling stop for the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft piggybacking the Space Shuttle Discovery back to the Kennedy Space Center from Amarillo after STS-128.
• The base's runway is also used by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, as their large Fort Worth assembly facility is located adjacent to the base.
• The closest airport to Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base (FWH) is Fort Worth Meacham Int'l Airport (FTW), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) NE of FWH.
• In addition to being known as "Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base", another name for FWH is "Carswell Field".