Nonstop flight route between Jacksonville, Arkansas, United States and Funchal, Madeira, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Little Rock Air Force Base (LRF), Jacksonville, Arkansas, United States and Madeira Airport (FNC), Funchal, Madeira, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,221 miles (or 6,792 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 Little Rock Air Force Base and Madeira 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 Little Rock Air Force Base and Madeira 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 Little Rock Air Force Base (LRF):

• In the 1970s the base went through significant changes, with the first C-130s arriving in March 1970.
• Little Rock Air Force Base was authorized in 1953 and opened on 24 January 1955.
• In 1960, the Air Force announced that Little Rock Air Force Base would house 18 Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles located throughout the state of Arkansas.
• In September 1962, the 154th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron of the Arkansas Air National Guard relocated to Little Rock AFB and reorganized as the 189th Tactical Reconnaissance Group.
• In addition to being known as "Little Rock Air Force Base", another name for LRF is "Little Rock AFB".
• The furthest airport from Little Rock Air Force Base (LRF) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,887 miles (17,521 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• References for history introduction, major commands and major units
• On 1 January 1976, the 189 TRG transferred being a TAC-gained unit to a SAC-gained unit when it converted to the KC-135 Stratotanker and was redesignated the 189th Air Refueling Group, becoming one of the first Air National Guard units to be assigned to Strategic Air Command with a concomitant requirement to maintain a 24-hour alert force at Little Rock as well as deployments to support worldwide tanker task forces.
• The closest airport to Little Rock Air Force Base (LRF) is Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport (LIT), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) SSW of LRF.
• During the 1991 Gulf War, the 314 TAW's two operational C-130 squadrons and the 189 TAG's C-130 squadron supported operations from both the middle east and European theaters.

Facts about Madeira Airport (FNC):

• Madeira Airport handled 2,311,380 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Madeira Airport", another name for FNC is "Aeroporto da Madeira".
• Madeira Airport (FNC) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Madeira Airport's relatively low elevation of 190 feet, planes can take off or land at Madeira 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 Madeira Airport (FNC) is Porto Santo Airport (PXO), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) NE of FNC.
• The new runway and terminal were inaugurated on 6 October 2002, and to mark the occasion an Air-Atlantic Iceland Boeing 747-267B, registration TF-ABA, landed at the airport.
• In 1972, the popularity of visiting the island of Madeira increased, so the runway had to be extended to allow modern and larger aircraft to land.
• The furthest airport from Madeira Airport (FNC) is Lord Howe Island Airport (LDH), which is nearly antipodal to Madeira Airport (meaning Madeira Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Lord Howe Island Airport), and is located 12,181 miles (19,604 kilometers) away in Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, Australia.
• Funchal Airport is 13.2 km east-northeast of the regional capital Funchal.
• Madeira Airport was officially opened on 18 July 1964, with two 1,600 m runways.