Nonstop flight route between Tonopah, Nevada, United States and Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD), Tonopah, Nevada, United States and Santa Maria Airport (RIA), Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,191 miles (or 9,963 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 Tonopah Test Range Airport and Santa Maria 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 Tonopah Test Range Airport and Santa Maria 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 Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD):

• In the 1980s, Tonopah Airport became a major operating location for the Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk.
• In May 1973, when Project HAVE IDEA was initiated for joint technical and tactical evaluation of Soviet aircraft types, the tactical evaluation flights of foreign aircraft were undertaken by Detachment 1, 57th Fighter Weapons Wing.
• The MiG-21 posed a major threat to Israeli Air Defenses as well as to American pilots over the skies of North Vietnam.
• Foreign military sales of United States fighter aircraft to Indonesia and Egypt in the mid-1970s to replace the Soviet fighter aircraft allowed these nations to clandestinely transfer un-needed MiG-21 ultra modern MiG-23s aircraft to the United States for evaluation.
• The assets of the squadron could not go to the boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB, and the fate of them remains in some cases, still classified.
• Several locations were considered, Michael Army Airfield at the Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah, and the Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field on the Goldwater Range in Arizona.
• The closest airport to Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD) is Tonopah Airport (TPH), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) NW of XSD.
• In addition, unconfirmed Soviet aircraft flown were MiG-25 Foxbat.
• The primary access to the facility is off of U.S.
• The furthest airport from Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,207 miles (18,036 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.

Facts about Santa Maria Airport (RIA):

• The closest airport to Santa Maria Airport (RIA) is João Batista Bos Filho Airport (IJU), which is located 93 miles (150 kilometers) N of RIA.
• The airport is located 11 km east of downtown Santa Maria.
• Santa Maria Airport (RIA) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Santa Maria Airport (RIA) is Aguni Airport (AGJ), which is nearly antipodal to Santa Maria Airport (meaning Santa Maria Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Aguni Airport), and is located 12,214 miles (19,656 kilometers) away in Aguni, Japan.
• In addition to being known as "Santa Maria Airport", another name for RIA is "Aeroporto de Santa Maria".
• In 1944 the President of Brazil Getúlio Vargas allocated an area of 4 million square meters near Santa Maria with the purpose of building an aerodrome.
• Because of Santa Maria Airport's relatively low elevation of 289 feet, planes can take off or land at Santa Maria 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.