Nonstop flight route between Florence, Italy and Wichita Falls, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Florence Airport, Peretola (FLR), Florence, Italy and Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS), Wichita Falls, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,480 miles (or 8,820 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 Florence Airport, Peretola 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 Florence Airport, Peretola 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 Florence Airport, Peretola (FLR):

• In addition to being known as "Florence Airport, Peretola", another name for FLR is "Aeroporto di Firenze-Peretola".
• The furthest airport from Florence Airport, Peretola (FLR) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Florence Airport, Peretola (meaning Florence Airport, Peretola is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,055 miles (19,401 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In 1990, the airport was named after Florence native Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian merchant and cartographer.
• Florence Airport, Peretola (FLR) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Florence Airport, Peretola (FLR) is Siena-Ampugnano Airport (SAY), which is located 38 miles (62 kilometers) S of FLR.
• Since April 9, 1998, AdF has had a global concession for managing the airport infrastructures, and it has assumed responsibility for the maintenance and development of Florence Airport.
• Because of Florence Airport, Peretola's relatively low elevation of 144 feet, planes can take off or land at Florence Airport, Peretola 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.
• Peretola was a great field where airplanes landed and took off without any mandatory direction until the Ministry of Aeronautics decided to enlarge and upgrade the now aged flight field.
• On December 5, 2012 Vueling has announced the opening of a new base of operations from which to fly to Florence to several destinations in Europe.

Facts about Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS):

• 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 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.
• 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 Department of Defense proposed a major realignment of the base, as part of the Base Realignment and Closure program announced on 13 May 2005.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Sheppard Air Force Base", another name for SPS is "Sheppard AFB".
• Helicopter pilot training was transferred from Stead AFB, Nevada in October 1965, with H-19, H-43, Bell TH-1F, CH-3C and HH-3E helicopters used for training.