Nonstop flight route between Mmabatho, South Africa and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mafikeng Airport (MBD), Mmabatho, South Africa and Kincheloe Air Force Base (INR), Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,418 miles (or 13,548 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 Kincheloe 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 Mafikeng Airport and Kincheloe 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 Mafikeng Airport (MBD):

• The closest airport to Mafikeng Airport (MBD) is Lobatse Airport (LOQ), which is located 43 miles (70 kilometers) NNE of MBD.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Mafikeng Airport", another name for MBD is "Mmabatho Airport".
• 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 Kincheloe Air Force Base (INR):

• The closest airport to Kincheloe Air Force Base (INR) is Chippewa County International Airport (CIU), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of INR.
• In the 1950s, the Air Force adopted a policy of dispersing Strategic Air Command bombers and tankers.
• The furthest airport from Kincheloe Air Force Base (INR) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,103 miles (17,869 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The importance of Kincheloe AFB to ADC was evident in 1960 with some major changes.
• On 16 February 1953, the first operational ADC unit, the 534th Air Defense Group was activated at Kinross AFB.
• With the outbreak of the Cold War in 1948 and active combat in the Korean War in June, 1950, the United States began building up its defenses.
• The B-52s and KC-135s of the 449th were reassigned to other SAC units, and the wing was inactivated on 30 September 1977 concurrently with the closure of Kincheloe Air Force Base.