Nonstop flight route between Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States and Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Patrick Air Force Base (COF), Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States and Bloemfontein International Airport (BFN), Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,084 miles (or 13,010 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 Patrick Air Force Base and Bloemfontein International 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 Patrick Air Force Base and Bloemfontein International 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 Patrick Air Force Base (COF):

• The base is a census-designated place and had a resident population of 1,222 at the 2010 census.
• On May 3, 1951, the Long Range Proving Ground Division was assigned to the newly created Air Research and Development Command.
• NAS Banana River was transferred to the United States Air Force on September 1, 1948 and renamed the Joint Long Range Proving Ground on June 10, 1949.
• In 1971, the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute was established at Patrick AFB.
• The 920th Rescue Wing, part of Air Force Reserve Command, is another tenant command headquartered at Patrick AFB and is the installation's only military flying unit.
• The closest airport to Patrick Air Force Base (COF) is Merritt Island Airport (COI), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) NNW of COF.
• Three months after World War II, on December 5, 1945, NAS Banana River had an ancillary role in the disappearance of Flight 19, a formation of five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers, which had departed NAS Fort Lauderdale, Florida on a routine over-water training mission.
• The furthest airport from Patrick Air Force Base (COF) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,550 miles (18,587 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "Patrick Air Force Base", another name for COF is "Patrick AFB".

Facts about Bloemfontein International Airport (BFN):

• Bloemfontein International Airport (BFN) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Bloemfontein International Airport (BFN) is Kalaupapa Airport (LUP), which is located 11,855 miles (19,079 kilometers) away in Kalaupapa, Hawaii, United States.
• Because of Bloemfontein International Airport's high elevation of 4,457 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at BFN. Combined with a high temperature, this could make BFN a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Bloemfontein International Airport (BFN) is Mafeteng Airport (MFC), which is located 75 miles (120 kilometers) SE of BFN.
• In November 2012, the South African government announced that the airport's name was to be changed to Bram Fischer International Airport.