Nonstop flight route between Falkland Islands and Palm Springs, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands and Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport (TRM), Palm Springs, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,856 miles (or 11,034 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 RAF Mount Pleasant and Jacqueline Cochran Regional 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 RAF Mount Pleasant and Jacqueline Cochran Regional 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 RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN):

• The furthest airport from RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Mohe Gulian Airport (OHE), which is nearly antipodal to RAF Mount Pleasant (meaning RAF Mount Pleasant is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Mohe Gulian Airport), and is located 12,353 miles (19,879 kilometers) away in Mohe, Heilongjiang, China.
• Mount Pleasant was opened by Prince Andrew on 12 May 1985, becoming fully operational the following year.
• 33 Engineer Regiment provides constant support and is part of the Joint Service Falkland Islands Detachment which consists of RAF and RLC EOD teams.
• The closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
• Flights are planned to Saint Helena when a new airport there opens in 2016.
• Flights of Phantoms were rotated through the airfield until 1992 when they were replaced with Tornado F3s.
• After the surrender of the Argentine ground forces on the islands, the British still faced the problem of potential Argentine air attacks from Argentina, so an aircraft carrier had to remain on station to guard the islands with its squadron of Sea Harriers until the local airfield was prepared for jet aircraft.
• On 10 November 2011, it was announced that Prince William would be serving as a Sea King pilot on the station for six weeks during February and March 2012.
• RAF Mount Pleasant is the newest permanent airfield in the Royal Air Force.

Facts about Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport (TRM):

• Initially known as Naval Air Bases Detachment Thermal, the base's facilities were in rather poor condition.
• Because of Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of -115 feet, planes can take off or land at Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport 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.
• The closest airport to Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport (TRM) is Bermuda Dunes Airport (UDD), which is located only 11 miles (17 kilometers) NW of TRM.
• The furthest airport from Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport (TRM) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,478 miles (18,472 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• In addition to being known as "Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport", another name for TRM is "(former Thermal Army Air Field)".
• Phased down in 1944 after most Army units had deployed overseas to combat areas, Thermal had been inactive for six months when the United States Navy requested permission to occupy the base on December 2, 1944 with the stipulation that the Army could reoccupy with 30-days notice.
• Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport (TRM) has 2 runways.
• Built during World War II and used by both the US Army and US Navy, Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport has had several name changes.