Nonstop flight route between Fort Wainwright, Alaska, United States and Tampa, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wainwright Airport (AIN), Fort Wainwright, Alaska, United States and MacDill Air Force Base (MCF), Tampa, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,126 miles (or 6,640 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 Wainwright Airport and MacDill 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 Wainwright Airport and MacDill 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 Wainwright Airport (AIN):

• The furthest airport from Wainwright Airport (AIN) is Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Airport (TNM), which is located 10,348 miles (16,654 kilometers) away in Villa Las Estrellas, Antarctica.
• Wainwright Airport (AIN) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Wainwright Airport", another name for AIN is "AWI".
• The airport was built in 1957 to support the Distant Early Warning Line Radar station at Wainwright.
• The closest airport to Wainwright Airport (AIN) is Atqasuk Edward Burnell Sr. Memorial Airport (ATK), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) E of AIN.
• Because of Wainwright Airport's relatively low elevation of 45 feet, planes can take off or land at Wainwright 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.
• The radar station was upgraded in the late 1980s with new radars and in 1989 was re-designated part of the North Warning System as a Long Range Radar Site, A-16, controlled by the Pacific Air Forces 611th Air Support Group, based at Elmendorf AFB.

Facts about MacDill Air Force Base (MCF):

• Several bases in Florida, including MacDill, served as detention centers for German prisoners-of-war in the latter part of 1944 and 1945.
• The furthest airport from MacDill Air Force Base (MCF) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,436 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "MacDill Air Force Base", another name for MCF is "MacDill AFB".
• All of these airfields came under the jurisdiction of Third Air Force.
• The closest airport to MacDill Air Force Base (MCF) is Peter O. Knight Airport (TPF), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NE of MCF.
• After the war in Europe had broken out in September 1939, fears of Nazi U-Boats attacking American shipping in the Gulf of Mexico was the concern of the War Department.
• The host unit at MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Mobility Wing, assigned to the Air Mobility Command's 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force.
• MacDill AFB was established in 1939 as Southeast Air Base, Tampa.
• With the United States entry into World War II, the primary mission of MacDill Field became the training of bombardment units under III Bomber Command.
• MacDill has a total of 38 tenant units according to the official MacDill website."MacDill Air Force Base Units".
• The base also supports the large military retiree community in the Tampa Bay area and surrounding environs.