Nonstop flight route between Castro, Chile and Pituffik, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gamboa Airport (WCA), Castro, Chile and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,226 miles (or 13,239 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 Gamboa Airport and Thule Air 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 Gamboa Airport and Thule Air 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 Gamboa Airport (WCA):

• The furthest airport from Gamboa Airport (WCA) is Wuhai Airport (WUA), which is nearly antipodal to Gamboa Airport (meaning Gamboa Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Wuhai Airport), and is located 12,248 miles (19,711 kilometers) away in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia, China.
• Gamboa Airport (WCA) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Gamboa Airport's relatively low elevation of 187 feet, planes can take off or land at Gamboa 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 "Gamboa Airport", another name for WCA is "Aeródromo Gamboa".
• The closest airport to Gamboa Airport (WCA) is Mocopulli Airport (MHC), which is located only 11 miles (17 kilometers) NNE of WCA.

Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):

• In 1957 construction began on 4 Nike Missile sites around the base, and they and their radar systems were operational by the end of 1958.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
• The furthest airport from Thule Air Base (THU) is Hobart International Airport (HBA), which is located 9,883 miles (15,905 kilometers) away in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
• A cluster of huts known as Pituffik stood on the wide plain where the base was built in 1951.
• In 1954, the 378 m Globecom Tower, a tower for military radio communication, was built at Northmountain.
• On 21 January 1968, a B-52G Stratofortress from the 380th Strategic Aerospace Wing, Plattsburgh Air Force Base, New York on a secret airborne nuclear alert crashed and burned on the ice near Thule Air Base.
• After the German occupation of Denmark on 9 April 1940, Henrik Kauffmann Danish Ambassador to the United States, made an agreement "In the name of the king" with the United States authorizing the United States to defend the Danish colonies on Greenland from German aggression - this agreement faced Kaufmann with a charge of high treason.
• Late 1950s the DEW 1 to 4 where build as "weather stations", Thule Air Base would act as an supply station for the DYE bases.