Nonstop flight route between Château-Thierry, France and Wichita Falls, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome (XCY), Château-Thierry, France and Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS), Wichita Falls, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,967 miles (or 7,994 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 Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome and Sheppard Air Force 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 Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome and Sheppard Air Force 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 Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome (XCY):

• The furthest airport from Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome (XCY) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome (meaning Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,073 miles (19,430 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 723 feet, planes can take off or land at Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome 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 Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome (XCY) is Reims-Champagne Air Base (RHE), which is located 36 miles (57 kilometers) ENE of XCY.
• In addition to being known as "Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome", another name for XCY is "Aérodrome de Château-Thierry - Belleau".
• Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome (XCY) currently has only 1 runway.

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.
• 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 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.
• Sheppard Field reached its peak strength of 46,340 people while serving as a separation center for troops being discharged following World War II from September through November 1945.
• 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 host unit on Sheppard Air Force Base is the 82nd Training Wing whose mission makes it the most diversified training base within the Air Education and Training Command.
• In February 1992, restructuring and downsizing of the Air Force caused a realignment and renumbering of units at Sheppard.
• In addition to being known as "Sheppard Air Force Base", another name for SPS is "Sheppard AFB".