Nonstop flight route between Daocheng, Sichuan, China and Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Daocheng Yading Airport (DCY), Daocheng, Sichuan, China and Patrick Air Force Base (COF), Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,460 miles (or 13,615 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 Daocheng Yading Airport and Patrick 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 Daocheng Yading Airport and Patrick 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 Daocheng Yading Airport (DCY):

• Daocheng Yading Airport (DCY) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport was opened with a single scheduled flight between Daocheng and Chengdu, and flights to Chongqing and Barkam are expected to begin before 1 October 2013.
• The closest airport to Daocheng Yading Airport (DCY) is Dêqên Shangri-La Airport (DIG), which is located 108 miles (174 kilometers) SSW of DCY.
• In addition to being known as "Daocheng Yading Airport", other names for DCY include "稻城亚丁机场", "Dàochéng Yàdīng Jīchǎng" and "ZUDC".
• The furthest airport from Daocheng Yading Airport (DCY) is La Florida Airport (LSC), which is located 11,910 miles (19,167 kilometers) away in La Serena, Chile.
• Because of Daocheng Yading Airport's high elevation of 14,472 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at DCY. Combined with a high temperature, this could make DCY a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Daocheng Yading Airport is an airport serving Daocheng County in the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan province, China.

Facts about Patrick Air Force Base (COF):

• In 1971, the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute was established at Patrick AFB.
• 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 base is a census-designated place and had a resident population of 1,222 at the 2010 census.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Patrick Air Force Base", another name for COF is "Patrick AFB".
• 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.
• Present Day:Brig Gen Nina Armagno
• US Navy Boeing E-6 Mercury aircraft, part of Operation Looking Glass, were sometimes seen at Patrick AFB during the 2010-11 time frame and were often mistaken by onlookers for the previously retired VC-137 Presidential aircraft, which looks similar.