Nonstop flight route between Mmabatho, South Africa and Jacksonville, Illinois, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mafikeng Airport (MBD), Mmabatho, South Africa and Imeson FieldJacksonville Army AirfieldNaval Auxiliary Air Station Jacksonville #1 (IJX), Jacksonville, Illinois, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,065 miles (or 12,980 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 Mafikeng Airport and Imeson FieldJacksonville Army AirfieldNaval Auxiliary Air Station Jacksonville #1, 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 Mafikeng Airport and Imeson FieldJacksonville Army AirfieldNaval Auxiliary Air Station Jacksonville #1. 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 Mafikeng Airport (MBD):

• In addition to being known as "Mafikeng Airport", another name for MBD is "Mmabatho Airport".
• Mafikeng Airport (MBD) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Mafikeng Airport's high elevation of 4,181 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MBD. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MBD a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Mafikeng Airport (MBD) is Lobatse Airport (LOQ), which is located 43 miles (70 kilometers) NNE of MBD.
• The furthest airport from Mafikeng Airport (MBD) is Kalaupapa Airport (LUP), which is nearly antipodal to Mafikeng Airport (meaning Mafikeng Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Kalaupapa Airport), and is located 12,081 miles (19,443 kilometers) away in Kalaupapa, Hawaii, United States.

Facts about Imeson FieldJacksonville Army AirfieldNaval Auxiliary Air Station Jacksonville #1 (IJX):

• The unit was called to active duty on 10 October 1950 as a result of the outbreak of the Korean War.
• In an era of multistop airline flights JAX was busier than people nowadays would expect.
• The closest airport to Imeson FieldJacksonville Army AirfieldNaval Auxiliary Air Station Jacksonville #1 (IJX) is Jacksonville International Airport (JAX), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) NNW of IJX.
• Because of Imeson FieldJacksonville Army AirfieldNaval Auxiliary Air Station Jacksonville #1's relatively low elevation of 20 feet, planes can take off or land at Imeson FieldJacksonville Army AirfieldNaval Auxiliary Air Station Jacksonville #1 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 Imeson FieldJacksonville Army AirfieldNaval Auxiliary Air Station Jacksonville #1 (IJX) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,460 miles (18,442 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• The antisubmarine mission was turned over to the United States Navy in mid-1943, and Naval Auxiliary Air Station Jacksonville began to operate Consolidated PB4Y-1 long range bombers from Jacksonville AAF equipped with antisubmarine equipment.