Nonstop flight route between Tampa, Florida, United States and Jacksonville, Illinois, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MacDill Air Force Base (MCF), Tampa, Florida, United States and Imeson FieldJacksonville Army AirfieldNaval Auxiliary Air Station Jacksonville #1 (IJX), Jacksonville, Illinois, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 185 miles (or 298 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 relatively short distance between MacDill Air Force Base and Imeson FieldJacksonville Army AirfieldNaval Auxiliary Air Station Jacksonville #1, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about MacDill Air Force Base (MCF):

• All of these airfields came under the jurisdiction of Third Air Force.
• In addition to being known as "MacDill Air Force Base", another name for MCF is "MacDill AFB".
• In addition to the antisubmarine mission, another prewar mission of MacDill was "Project X" the ferrying of combat aircraft eastward to the Philippines via ferrying routes set up by Ferrying Command over South Atlantic Ocean and Central Africa.
• With the United States entry into World War II, the primary mission of MacDill Field became the training of bombardment units under III Bomber Command.
• The 326th Army Air Forces Base Unit was reorganized into an Army Air Forces separation )unit to process military demobilizations.
• Two secondary Army Airfields, Brooksville Army Airfield and Hillsborough Army Airfield were built and opened in early 1942 to support the flight operations of MacDill and Drew Fields.
• 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.
• Detachment 1 of the 23d Wing is unique in that it hosts the Deployed Unit Complex at MacDill AFB, providing flight line and logistical support for detachments of Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps tactical jet fighter and attack aircraft utilizing the nearby Avon Park Air Force Range facility, the Avon Range also being operated and maintained by Det 1, 23d Wing.
• MacDill has a total of 38 tenant units according to the official MacDill website."MacDill Air Force Base Units".
• MacDill Air Force Base is an active United States Air Force base located approximately 4 miles south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida.
• 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.
• MacDill Field was one of two major Army Air Corps bases established in the Tampa Bay area in the buildup prior to World War II.
• After the war in Europe had broken out in September 1939, fears of Nazi U-Boats attacking American shipping in the Gulf of Mexico was the concern of the War Department.
• The host unit at MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Mobility Wing, assigned to the Air Mobility Command's 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force.
• Flying operations at MacDill began in 1941 with the base's first mission being the defense of Gulf of Mexico.

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

• 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.
• With the closure of the base by Technical Service Command, a small portion of Jacksonville Army Airfield was transferred to the jurisdiction of Fourteenth Air Force on 15 December 1946 for subsequent use by postwar reserve forces.
• 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.
• In the fall of 1945, jurisdiction of Jacksonville AAF was transferred to Air Technical Service Command, whose mission was the transfer of any useful military equipment to other bases around the country.
• Local pilot Laurie Yonge offered airplane rides from the beaches.
• 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.
• In an era of multistop airline flights JAX was busier than people nowadays would expect.