Nonstop flight route between Longreach, Queensland, Australia and Detroit, Michigan, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Longreach Airport (LRE), Longreach, Queensland, Australia and Willow Run Airport (YIP) (YIP), Detroit, Michigan, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,421 miles (or 15,161 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 Longreach Airport and Willow Run Airport (YIP), 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 Longreach Airport and Willow Run Airport (YIP). 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 Longreach Airport (LRE):

• Because of Longreach Airport's relatively low elevation of 627 feet, planes can take off or land at Longreach 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.
• Longreach Airport (LRE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Longreach Airport (LRE) is Barcaldine Airport (BCI), which is located 66 miles (106 kilometers) E of LRE.
• The furthest airport from Longreach Airport (LRE) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,625 miles (18,709 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
• During World War II, Longreach airport became, for a short time in 1942, a base for United States Army Air Forces B-17 bomber aircraft of the 28th and 93d Bombardment Squadrons.
• In 2002, Qantas returned to the town, with a Boeing 747-238B aircraft, registered VH-EBQ and named City of Bunbury, flown into the town for static display at the Qantas Founders Outback Museum, which is also sited at the airport.
• In 1920, the first single engine aircraft to complete the flight from England to Australia arrived.
• Amy Johnson landed her de Havilland Gipsy Moth, registered G-AAAH, at the airport in 1930.
• In 1941, the Department of Civil Aviation established the Longreach Aeradio station at the airport.

Facts about Willow Run Airport (YIP) (YIP):

• Because of Willow Run Airport (YIP)'s relatively low elevation of 716 feet, planes can take off or land at Willow Run Airport (YIP) 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.
• Willow Run Airport (YIP) (YIP) has 4 runways.
• Once production began, it became difficult to introduce changes dictated by field experience in the various overseas theaters onto the production line in a timely fashion.
• Although the airfield itself and the buildings to the east of the runways had been built on Henry Ford's personal property, it is unclear how the parcels across the county line that became the site of the bomber plant were assembled.
• The furthest airport from Willow Run Airport (YIP) (YIP) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,276 miles (18,147 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Willow Run Airport (YIP) (YIP) is Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) E of YIP.
• The Willow Run bomber plant had many problems at startup, due in part to the mindsets and technical skills of both management and labor, who were each accustomed to the requirements of auto production, finding it difficult at first to adapt to the higher precision required in aircraft production.
• The RFC sold the airport to the University of Michigan in 1947 for $1.00.