Nonstop flight route between Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and San Bernardino, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport (BUQ), Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and Norton Air Force Base (SBD), San Bernardino, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,136 miles (or 16,312 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 Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport and Norton 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 Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport and Norton 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 Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport (BUQ):

• The closest airport to Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport (BUQ) is Gweru-Thornhill Air Base (GWE), which is located 90 miles (145 kilometers) ENE of BUQ.
• Because of Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport's high elevation of 4,359 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at BUQ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make BUQ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport (BUQ) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport (BUQ) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is nearly antipodal to Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport (meaning Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hilo International Airport), and is located 12,198 miles (19,630 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.

Facts about Norton Air Force Base (SBD):

• The closest airport to Norton Air Force Base (SBD) is San Bernardino International Airport (SBT), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) S of SBD.
• In 1955, the 27th AD established a Manual Air-Defense Control Center at Norton to monitor and track aircraft in Southern California.
• Norton AFB was closed as a result of Base Realignment and Closure action 1988 in 1994.
• Discrete C-130 Hercules modification tests were conducted out of Area II of the base in the late 1960s, with the 1198th Operational Evaluation and Training Squadron operating four highly classified C-130E special operations testbeds modified at Lockheed Air Services, at near-by Ontario Airport under projects Thin Slice and Heavy Chain.
• Norton was placed on the Department of Defense's base closure list in 1989.
• A change of mission in 1966 from Air Force Logistics Command to Military Airlift Command meant that Norton became one of six Military Airlift Command strategic-airlift bases, supporting US Army and Marine Corps' airlift requirements among other functions.
• The furthest airport from Norton Air Force Base (SBD) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,447 miles (18,423 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• A base railroad system interchanged with the Pacific Electric/Southern Pacific branch line on the south side of the installation.
• In addition to being known as "Norton Air Force Base", another name for SBD is "Norton AFB".