Nonstop flight route between Shetland, Scotland, United Kingdom and Tampa, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sumburgh Airport (LSI), Shetland, Scotland, United Kingdom and MacDill Air Force Base (MCF), Tampa, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,274 miles (or 6,878 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 Sumburgh 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 Sumburgh 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 Sumburgh Airport (LSI):

• The airport is unusual in that it has a 550 m helicopter runway as opposed to usual helipad.
• The closest airport to Sumburgh Airport (LSI) is Tingwall Airport (LWK), which is located 22 miles (35 kilometers) N of LSI.
• Sumburgh Airport (LSI) has 2 runways.
• The former RAF Sumburgh airfield had two runways, the longest being 800 yd, and the shorter running a length of 600 yd from shore-line to shore-line.
• Because of Sumburgh Airport's relatively low elevation of 21 feet, planes can take off or land at Sumburgh 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 Sumburgh Airport (LSI) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,442 miles (18,414 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.

Facts about MacDill Air Force Base (MCF):

• 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.
• Air defense of the Tampa Bay area was the mission of the 53d Pursuit Group, established at MacDIll on 15 January 1941.
• In late 1943, when Second Air Force began transitioning to B-29 Superfortress training, the B-17 mission returned to MacDill which continued through the end of World War II.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "MacDill Air Force Base", another name for MCF is "MacDill AFB".
• MacDill has a total of 38 tenant units according to the official MacDill website."MacDill Air Force Base Units".