Nonstop flight route between Johannesburg, South Africa and Valdosta, Georgia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Central Airport (GCJ), Johannesburg, South Africa and Moody Air Force Base (VAD), Valdosta, Georgia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,318 miles (or 13,386 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 Grand Central Airport and Moody 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 Grand Central Airport and Moody 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 Grand Central Airport (GCJ):

• The closest airport to Grand Central Airport (GCJ) is O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB), which is located only 12 miles (20 kilometers) SSE of GCJ.
• The airfield was started in the 1930s by a group of motor racing enthusiasts who were also interested in flying.
• Because of Grand Central Airport's high elevation of 5,327 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GCJ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GCJ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Grand Central Airport (GCJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Grand Central Airport (GCJ) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,992 miles (19,299 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.

Facts about Moody Air Force Base (VAD):

• The furthest airport from Moody Air Force Base (VAD) is Kalbarri Airport (KAX), which is located 11,363 miles (18,286 kilometers) away in Kalbarri, Western Australia, Australia.
• On 8 January 1943, the War Department constituted and activated the 29th Flying Training Wing at Moody and assigned it to the AAF Eastern Flying Training Command.
• To inject more realism into the training, ATC made arrangements with Strategic Air Command to allow instructor pilots to fly intercept missions against SAC bombers with F-86D Sabre, With the addition of interceptor crew training and the acquisition of interceptor aircraft, HQ USAF decided effective 20 October 1953 to assign ATC responsibility for supporting Air Defense Command's interceptor forces.
• In addition to being known as "Moody Air Force Base", another name for VAD is "Moody AFB".
• While on standby status, the airfield was redesignated as Moody Air Force Base on 13 January 1948.
• The wing executes worldwide close air support, force protection, and combat search and rescue operations in support of humanitarian interests, United States national security and the global war on terrorism.
• The closest airport to Moody Air Force Base (VAD) is Valdosta Regional AirportValdosta Army Auxiliary Airfield (VLD), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) SSW of VAD.
• The Air Force reorganized the MAJCOMs at the end of the Cold War, and on 1 June 1992 Moody was reassigned from the inactivating Tactical Air Command to the new Air Combat Command.