Nonstop flight route between Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, Australia and Tampa, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lord Howe Island Airport (LDH), Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, Australia and MacDill Air Force Base (MCF), Tampa, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,780 miles (or 14,130 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 Lord Howe Island 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 Lord Howe Island 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 Lord Howe Island Airport (LDH):

• On 20 April 2009 the runway was damaged by heavy rains of 230 mm in three hours, leaving 100 tourists stuck on the island.
• Because of Lord Howe Island Airport's relatively low elevation of 17 feet, planes can take off or land at Lord Howe 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 furthest airport from Lord Howe Island Airport (LDH) is Madeira Airport (FNC), which is nearly antipodal to Lord Howe Island Airport (meaning Lord Howe Island Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Madeira Airport), and is located 12,181 miles (19,604 kilometers) away in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal.
• The closest airport to Lord Howe Island Airport (LDH) is Coffs Harbour Airport (CFS), which is located 363 miles (584 kilometers) WNW of LDH.
• Lord Howe Island Airport (LDH) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about MacDill Air Force Base (MCF):

• MacDill Field was one of two major Army Air Corps bases established in the Tampa Bay area in the buildup prior to World War II.
• Several bases in Florida, including MacDill, served as detention centers for German prisoners-of-war in the latter part of 1944 and 1945.
• Air defense of the Tampa Bay area was the mission of the 53d Pursuit Group, established at MacDIll on 15 January 1941.
• 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.
• 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.
• Two secondary Army Airfields, Brooksville Army Airfield and Hillsborough Army Airfield were built and opened in early 1942 to support the flight operations of MacDill and Drew Fields.
• In addition MacDill provided transitional training in the B-17 Flying Fortress.
• The 6 AMW also has a collocated "Associate" wing at MacDill, the 927th Air Refueling Wing of the Air Force Reserve Command.
• In addition to being known as "MacDill Air Force Base", another name for MCF is "MacDill AFB".