Nonstop flight route between Tampa, Florida, United States and Thorne Bay, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MacDill Air Force Base (MCF), Tampa, Florida, United States and Thorne Bay Seaplane Base (KTB), Thorne Bay, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,115 miles (or 5,013 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 MacDill Air Force Base and Thorne Bay Seaplane 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 MacDill Air Force Base and Thorne Bay Seaplane 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 MacDill Air Force Base (MCF):

• 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.
• In February 1945, the 323d Combat Crew Training Wing was established at the base with a mission of training B-29 Superfortress aircrews.
• Estimates of the number of crew members trained at the base during the war vary from 50,000 to 120,000, with as many as 15,000 troops were stationed at MacDill Field at one time.
• In addition to being known as "MacDill Air Force Base", another name for MCF is "MacDill AFB".
• Also located at MacDill are a division of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the Joint Communications Support Element, the Florida Air National Guard's 290th Joint Communications Support Squadron, the Navy Reserve Forces Command's Navy Operational Support Center Tampa, the US Army's 297th Military Intelligence Battalion, the Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory, activities of the U.S.
• 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.
• 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.
• The 6 AMW also has a collocated "Associate" wing at MacDill, the 927th Air Refueling Wing of the Air Force Reserve Command.
• 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.

Facts about Thorne Bay Seaplane Base (KTB):

• The closest airport to Thorne Bay Seaplane Base (KTB) is Hollis Clark Bay Seaplane Base (HYL), which is located only 14 miles (23 kilometers) SSW of KTB.
• Thorne Bay Seaplane Base has one seaplane landing area designated NW/SE with a water surface measuring 5,000 by 2,000 feet.
• As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 2,640 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 2,283 enplanements in 2009, and 2,608 in 2010.
• The furthest airport from Thorne Bay Seaplane Base (KTB) is Port Alfred Airport (AFD), which is located 10,618 miles (17,088 kilometers) away in Port Alfred, South Africa.
• Thorne Bay Seaplane Base (KTB) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Thorne Bay Seaplane Base's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Thorne Bay Seaplane Base 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.