Nonstop flight route between Fort Sill, Oklahoma, United States and Buka Island, Papua New Guinea:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Henry Post Army Airfield (FSI), Fort Sill, Oklahoma, United States and Buka Island Airport (BUA), Buka Island, Papua New Guinea would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,392 miles (or 11,896 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 Henry Post Army Airfield and Buka Island 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 Henry Post Army Airfield and Buka Island 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 Henry Post Army Airfield (FSI):

• Henry Post Army Airfield is a military use airport located at Fort Sill in Comanche County, Oklahoma, United States.
• With the sudden end of World War I in November 1918, the future operational status of Post Field was unknown.
• There are no air units currently stationed at the airfield, however air operations for transient units are provided by permanent party personnel.
• By the late 1920s, the World War I tarpaper buildings were rotting and turning into fire hazards.
• Henry Post Army Airfield (FSI) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Henry Post Army Airfield (FSI) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,920 miles (17,575 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• After returning from combat duty in France, a cadre of the 135th Aero Squadron ) was assigned to Post Field as an observation squadron, supplying aircraft for the United States Army Field Artillery School at Fort Sill and supported Army units at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
• In 1940 the Artillery decided that the Air Corps had outgrown such mundane chores as artillery spotting, and it was decided that it would take care of itself with its own observation aircraft.
• The first Army aviation at Fort Sill began on 26 July 1915 when eight Curtiss JN-3 airplanes of the 1st Aero Squadron arrived from Rockwell Field, California.
• The closest airport to Henry Post Army Airfield (FSI) is Lawton–Fort Sill Regional Airport (LAW), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) S of FSI.

Facts about Buka Island Airport (BUA):

• The closest airport to Buka Island Airport (BUA) is Nissan Island Airport (IIS), which is located 71 miles (114 kilometers) NNW of BUA.
• Because of Buka Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 11 feet, planes can take off or land at Buka Island 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 origins of the airfield begin in 1941 when Australian troops built gun pits around a primitive airstrip in December 1941.
• Buka Airport is an airport serving Buka Island in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea.
• On 13 May 1943 Allied reconnaissance observed 36 fighters and 6 bombers at the airstrip.
• The furthest airport from Buka Island Airport (BUA) is São Filipe Airport (SFL), which is located 11,781 miles (18,959 kilometers) away in Fogo, Cape Verde.
• Today the airport is the primary air portal into Bougainville, and even 60 years after the war, wreckage from the military use of the airfield by the Japanese and Americans is easily found in the area.
• On 26 July, an Imperial Japanese Navy special detachment was sent to inspect Buka Airfield, but considered it unacceptable as a prospect for a speedily constructed major airfield.
• Buka Island Airport (BUA) currently has only 1 runway.
• There is one navigational aid, the Buka NDB situated on nearby Sohano Island.