Nonstop flight route between Marysville, California, United States and Buka Island, Papua New Guinea:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Beale Air Force Base (BAB), Marysville, California, United States and Buka Island Airport (BUA), Buka Island, Papua New Guinea would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,129 miles (or 9,864 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 Beale Air Force Base and Buka Island 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 Beale Air Force Base and Buka Island 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 Beale Air Force Base (BAB):

• Beale Air Force Base covers nearly 23,000 acres of rolling hills in northern California.
• The furthest airport from Beale Air Force Base (BAB) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,251 miles (18,107 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• The 9th Reconnaissance Wing is composed of four groups at Beale and various overseas operating locations.
• On 15 October 1964, the Department of Defense announced that Beale would be the home of the new, supersonic reconnaissance aircraft, the SR-71 Blackbird.
• In 1962, in order to retain the lineage of its MAJCOM 4-digit combat units and to perpetuate the lineage of many currently inactive bombardment units with illustrious World War II records, Headquarters SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its MAJCOM strategic wings that were equipped with combat aircraft and to activate AFCON units, most of which were inactive at the time which could carry a lineage and history.
• In addition to being known as "Beale Air Force Base", another name for BAB is "Beale AFB".
• Beale Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 8 miles east of Marysville, California.
• The closest airport to Beale Air Force Base (BAB) is Yuba County Airport (MYV), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) WSW of BAB.
• DC-18 was initially under the San Francisco Air Defense Sector, established on 15 February 1959.
• In 1948, Camp Beale became Beale AFB, its mission being to train bombardier navigators in radar techniques.

Facts about Buka Island Airport (BUA):

• In 2004, the airport experienced some closures due to land disputes.
• Buka Island Airport (BUA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Buka Island Airport (BUA) is Nissan Island Airport (IIS), which is located 71 miles (114 kilometers) NNW of BUA.
• Because of Buka Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at Buka Island 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.
• In January 1944, the Allies drove the Japanese out of Buka, and the airfield was used for operations against the Japanese over New Guinea.
• The furthest airport from Buka Island Airport (BUA) is São Filipe Airport (SFL), which is located 11,781 miles (18,959 kilometers) away in Fogo, Cape Verde.