Nonstop flight route between Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States and Valdivia, Chile:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Patrick Air Force Base (COF), Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States and Pichoy Airport (ZAL), Valdivia, Chile would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,715 miles (or 7,589 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 Pichoy 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 Pichoy 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):

• In addition to being known as "Patrick Air Force Base", another name for COF is "Patrick AFB".
• Cost comparison studies done in the early 1950s pointed out the desirability of letting contractors operate the station.
• 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 1971, the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute was established at Patrick AFB.
• 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.
• During investigation by a board of inquiry regarding the entire Flight 19 incident, attention was given to the loss of the NAS Banana River-based PBM.
• Additional tenant activities at Patrick AFB include the 920th Rescue Wing, the Air Force Technical Applications Center and the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute.
• Adjacent to the 920 RQW's facilities is the NASA Flight Operations Facility, which provides support for NASA's permanently based UH-1H helicopters supporting KSC and transient NASA fixed-wing aircraft such as the T-38 Talon.
• 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.

Facts about Pichoy Airport (ZAL):

• Because of Pichoy Airport's relatively low elevation of 59 feet, planes can take off or land at Pichoy 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 closest airport to Pichoy Airport (ZAL) is Maquehue Airport (ZCO), which is located 66 miles (106 kilometers) NNE of ZAL.
• In addition to being known as "Pichoy Airport", another name for ZAL is "Aeródromo Pichoy".
• The furthest airport from Pichoy Airport (ZAL) is Wuhai Airport (WUA), which is nearly antipodal to Pichoy Airport (meaning Pichoy Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Wuhai Airport), and is located 12,425 miles (19,997 kilometers) away in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia, China.
• Pichoy Airport (ZAL) currently has only 1 runway.