Nonstop flight route between Gander, Newfoundland, Canada and Wichita Falls, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gander International Airport (YQX), Gander, Newfoundland, Canada and Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS), Wichita Falls, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,455 miles (or 3,951 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 relatively short distance between Gander International Airport and Sheppard Air Force Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Gander International Airport (YQX):

• The closest airport to Gander International Airport (YQX) is St. John's International Airport (YYT), which is located 124 miles (199 kilometers) SE of YQX.
• The furthest airport from Gander International Airport (YQX) is Albany Airport (ALH), which is located 11,395 miles (18,338 kilometers) away in Albany, Western Australia, Australia.
• Gander International Airport (YQX) has 2 runways.
• With the advent of jets with longer range in the 1960s most flights no longer needed to refuel.
• Because of Gander International Airport's relatively low elevation of 496 feet, planes can take off or land at Gander International 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.
• A major reason that Gander received so much traffic was partly due to its ability to handle large aircraft, but primarily because Transport Canada and Nav Canada instructed pilots coming from Europe to avoid the airports in major urban centres of Central Canada, like Lester B.
• Following Newfoundland's entry into Confederation, the government renamed the airport Gander Airport and it came under the administration of Canada's federal Department of Transport.
• To honour the people of Gander and Halifax for their support during the operation, Lufthansa named a new Airbus A340-300 "Gander/Halifax" on May 16, 2002.
• On December 12, 1985 Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashed on take-off from, the then runway 22.

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 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.
• Comptroller, transportation, and intelligence training moved to Sheppard from Lowry AFB, Colorado, in the fall of 1954.
• Sheppard Air Force Base is named in honor of Senator John Morris Sheppard of Texas, chairman of the Senate Military Affairs Committee from 1933 until his death on 9 April 1941.
• In addition to being known as "Sheppard Air Force Base", another name for SPS is "Sheppard AFB".
• During World War II, then-Sheppard Field conducted basic training, and it also trained glider mechanics, technical and flying training instructors and B-29 Superfortress flight engineers.
• 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.
• Additionally, officers from all 13 participating nations fill subordinate leadership positions throughout the wing.
• 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 80th Flying Training Wing began conducting the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program in 1981.