Nonstop flight route between Mbala, Northern Province, Zambia and Pensacola, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mbala Airport (MMQ), Mbala, Northern Province, Zambia and Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field (NPA), Pensacola, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,230 miles (or 13,244 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 Mbala Airport and Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field, 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 Mbala Airport and Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field. 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 Mbala Airport (MMQ):

• The furthest airport from Mbala Airport (MMQ) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is located 11,674 miles (18,788 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.
• Because of Mbala Airport's high elevation of 5,454 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MMQ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MMQ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Mbala Airport (MMQ) is Kasaba Bay Airport (ZKB), which is located 51 miles (83 kilometers) WNW of MMQ.
• Mbala Airport (MMQ) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field (NPA):

• The furthest airport from Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field (NPA) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 11,154 miles (17,951 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• The air station also hosts the Naval Education and Training Command and the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute, which provides training for all naval flight surgeons, aviation physiologists, and aviation experimental psychologists.
• during the Korean War, the military was caught in the midst of transition from propellers to jets.
• In addition to being known as "Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field", another name for NPA is "KNPA - FAA: NPA".
• The closest airport to Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field (NPA) is NOLF Saufley Field (NUN), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) NNW of NPA.
• After the war, the ruins at the yard were cleared away and work was begun to rebuild the base.
• Because of Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field's relatively low elevation of 28 feet, planes can take off or land at Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field 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.
• Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field (NPA) has 3 runways.
• Realizing the advantages of the Pensacola harbor and the large timber reserves nearby for shipbuilding, in 1825 President John Quincy Adams and Secretary of the Navy Samuel Southard made arrangements to build a Navy Yard on the southern tip of Escambia County, where the air station is today.
• Pilot training requirements shifted upward to meet the demands for the Vietnam War, which occupied much of the 1960s and 1970s.