Nonstop flight route between Mount Hotham, Victoria, Australia and Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mount Hotham Airport (MHU), Mount Hotham, Victoria, Australia and Patrick Air Force Base (COF), Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,612 miles (or 15,469 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 Mount Hotham Airport and Patrick 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 Mount Hotham Airport and Patrick 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 Mount Hotham Airport (MHU):

• One airline is looking to recommence services in 2015 with similar aircraft to those used by Qantaslink, but initially with less services.
• The furthest airport from Mount Hotham Airport (MHU) is Flores Airport (FLW), which is nearly antipodal to Mount Hotham Airport (meaning Mount Hotham Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Flores Airport), and is located 12,251 miles (19,715 kilometers) away in Flores Island, Azores, Portugal.
• Mount Hotham Airport (MHU) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Mount Hotham Airport's high elevation of 4,260 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MHU. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MHU a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• With massive Qantas cutbacks announced early 2014, Qantaslink will no longer serve Mt Hotham airport, meaning no more scheduled services.
• On 8 July 2005, a Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain charter plane crashed into terrain while attempting to make a landing at the airport, killing the pilot and two passengers.
• The closest airport to Mount Hotham Airport (MHU) is Bairnsdale Aerodrome (BSJ), which is located 59 miles (96 kilometers) SSE of MHU.

Facts about Patrick Air Force Base (COF):

• NAS Banana River was transferred to the United States Air Force on September 1, 1948 and renamed the Joint Long Range Proving Ground on June 10, 1949.
• Adjacent to the 920 RQW's facilities is the NASA Flight Operations Facility, which provides support for NASA's permanently based UH-1H helicopters supporting KSC and transient NASA fixed-wing aircraft such as the T-38 Talon.
• In addition to being known as "Patrick Air Force Base", another name for COF is "Patrick AFB".
• The host wing for Patrick AFB is the 45th Space Wing, whose officers and airmen manage all launches of unmanned rockets at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station 12 miles to the north.
• The furthest airport from Patrick Air Force Base (COF) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,550 miles (18,587 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Patrick Air Force Base (COF) is Merritt Island Airport (COI), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) NNW of COF.
• In 2010, the Air Force announced its intention to replace the existing AFTAC building front State Road A1A with a new facility that would cost in the range from $100 to $200 million.
• The 920 RQW is a full participant in the Air Force's current Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force operating concept.