Nonstop flight route between Tampa, Florida, United States and Johannesburg, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between MacDill Air Force Base (MCF), Tampa, Florida, United States and Rand Airport (QRA), Johannesburg, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,230 miles (or 13,245 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 Rand Airport, 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 Rand Airport. 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):

• Flying operations at MacDill began in 1941 with the base's first mission being the defense of Gulf of Mexico.
• In February 1945, the 323d Combat Crew Training Wing was established at the base with a mission of training B-29 Superfortress aircrews.
• MacDill has a total of 38 tenant units according to the official MacDill website."MacDill Air Force Base Units".
• MacDill AFB was established in 1939 as Southeast Air Base, Tampa.
• 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 addition to being known as "MacDill Air Force Base", another name for MCF is "MacDill AFB".
• The 6th Air Mobility Wing is commanded by Colonel Scott V.
• 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 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.

Facts about Rand Airport (QRA):

• Rand Airport (QRA) has 2 runways.
• Rand Airport is notorious for its hot and high conditions and relatively short runways.
• The furthest airport from Rand Airport (QRA) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,977 miles (19,275 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
• Today, the airport hosts air charter operators, flying schools and a number of aircraft maintenance organizations, as well as pilot shops, car hire and other aviation-related enterprises.
• de Havilland DH 104 Dove and Lockheed L18-08 Lodestar on view at the South African Airways Museum Society at Rand Airport.
• Because of Rand Airport's high elevation of 5,482 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at QRA. Combined with a high temperature, this could make QRA a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Rand Airport (QRA) is O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) NE of QRA.
• South African Airways donated two Boeing 747s to the "South African Airways Museum Society" which are on display at the airport.