Nonstop flight route between Zhongwei, Ningxia, China and Big Spring, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Zhongwei Shapotou Airport (ZHY), Zhongwei, Ningxia, China and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS), Big Spring, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,317 miles (or 11,776 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 Zhongwei Shapotou Airport and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield, 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 Zhongwei Shapotou Airport and Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield. 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 Zhongwei Shapotou Airport (ZHY):

• The furthest airport from Zhongwei Shapotou Airport (ZHY) is Carriel Sur International Airport (CCP), which is nearly antipodal to Zhongwei Shapotou Airport (meaning Zhongwei Shapotou Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Carriel Sur International Airport), and is located 12,324 miles (19,834 kilometers) away in Concepción, Bío Bío Region, Chile.
• The closest airport to Zhongwei Shapotou Airport (ZHY) is Yinchuan Hedong International Airport (INC), which is located 85 miles (137 kilometers) NE of ZHY.
• Because of Zhongwei Shapotou Airport's high elevation of 8,202 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ZHY. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ZHY a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Zhongwei Shapotou Airport", other names for ZHY include "中卫沙坡头机场" and "Zhōngwèi Shāpōtóu Jīchǎng".
• Zhongwei Shapotou Airport (ZHY) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS):

• 78th Flying Training Wing
• By the mid-1970s, the end of the Vietnam War, the associated financial costs of that conflict and related cuts in USAF force structure and future defense budgets meant a marked decrease in the need for Air Force pilots.
• At that time, nearly 6,000 students had graduated and the field's training aircraft had flown approximately 400,000 hours and more than 60 million miles.
• The furthest airport from Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,166 miles (17,969 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Webb Air Force Base Big Spring Army Airfield (BGS) is Midland Airpark (MDD), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) WSW of BGS.
• By 1960, the consolidated pilot training program meant the consolidation of preflight, primary, and basic instruction into one school.