Nonstop flight route between Hluhluwe, South Africa and Tampa, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hluhluwe Airport (HLW), Hluhluwe, South Africa and MacDill Air Force Base (MCF), Tampa, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,508 miles (or 13,693 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 Hluhluwe Airport and MacDill 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 Hluhluwe Airport and MacDill 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 Hluhluwe Airport (HLW):

• Hluhluwe Airport (HLW) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Hluhluwe Airport's relatively low elevation of 249 feet, planes can take off or land at Hluhluwe 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 Hluhluwe Airport (HLW) is Richards Bay Airport (RCB), which is located 52 miles (83 kilometers) SSW of HLW.
• The furthest airport from Hluhluwe Airport (HLW) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,716 miles (18,855 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.

Facts about MacDill Air Force Base (MCF):

• Estimates of the number of crew members trained at the base during the war vary from 50,000 to 120,000, with as many as 15,000 troops were stationed at MacDill Field at one time.
• Air defense of the Tampa Bay area was the mission of the 53d Pursuit Group, established at MacDIll on 15 January 1941.
• The closest airport to MacDill Air Force Base (MCF) is Peter O. Knight Airport (TPF), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NE of MCF.
• With the United States entry into World War II, the primary mission of MacDill Field became the training of bombardment units under III Bomber Command.
• In addition to being known as "MacDill Air Force Base", another name for MCF is "MacDill AFB".
• Several bases in Florida, including MacDill, served as detention centers for German prisoners-of-war in the latter part of 1944 and 1945.
• The furthest airport from MacDill Air Force Base (MCF) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,436 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• After the war in Europe had broken out in September 1939, fears of Nazi U-Boats attacking American shipping in the Gulf of Mexico was the concern of the War Department.
• Also located at MacDill are a division of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the Joint Communications Support Element, the Florida Air National Guard's 290th Joint Communications Support Squadron, the Navy Reserve Forces Command's Navy Operational Support Center Tampa, the US Army's 297th Military Intelligence Battalion, the Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory, activities of the U.S.
• MacDill Air Force Base is an active United States Air Force base located approximately 4 miles south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida.