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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Duke FieldEglin Air Force Auxiliary Field #3 (EGI), Crestview, Florida, United States and Bloemfontein International Airport (BFN), Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,474 miles (or 13,638 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 Duke FieldEglin Air Force Auxiliary Field #3 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 Duke FieldEglin Air Force Auxiliary Field #3 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 Duke FieldEglin Air Force Auxiliary Field #3 (EGI):

• In 1980, Duke Field was also one of the fields used in training for Operation Credible Sport, an initiative to prepare for a second rescue attempt of American hostages held in Iran using C-130 aircraft modified with multiple rocket engines for extremely short landings and takeoffs.
• In addition to being known as "Duke FieldEglin Air Force Auxiliary Field #3", another name for EGI is "Duke Field".
• The closest airport to Duke FieldEglin Air Force Auxiliary Field #3 (EGI) is Bob Sikes Airport (CEW), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) N of EGI.
• The furthest airport from Duke FieldEglin Air Force Auxiliary Field #3 (EGI) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,172 miles (17,980 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• In 1960 and 1961, in preparation for the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Duke Field was host to 'sanitized' Douglas C-54s and Curtiss C-46s used for transporting personnel, armaments and supplies between US bases such as Homestead AFB and Opa-locka Airport and CIA-run bases in Guatemala and latterly Nicaragua.
• Duke Field was one of the first auxiliary fields built on the Eglin Field / Eglin AFB complex.
• With the conversion of the 919th Tactical Airlift Group in 1971 to the 919th Special Operations Group as the only Air Force Reserve AC-130 Spectre gunship unit on 1 July 1975, nearly $6.7 million in new construction was programmed at Duke Field through Fiscal Year 1976.
• Six original Raiders were present at Duke Field, on Saturday 31 May 2008 for the culmination of their annual reunion.

Facts about Bloemfontein International Airport (BFN):

• In 2012, the airport served 426,420 passengers.
• The closest airport to Bloemfontein International Airport (BFN) is Mafeteng Airport (MFC), which is located 75 miles (120 kilometers) SE of BFN.
• 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.
• Bloemfontein International Airport (BFN) has 2 runways.
• 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.
• In November 2012, the South African government announced that the airport's name was to be changed to Bram Fischer International Airport.