Nonstop flight route between Pensacola, Florida, United States and Mmabatho, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field (NPA), Pensacola, Florida, United States and Mafikeng Airport (MBD), Mmabatho, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,391 miles (or 13,504 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 Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field and Mafikeng 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 Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field and Mafikeng 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 Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field (NPA):

• The site now occupied by NAS Pensacola has been controlled by varying nations.
• The Navy Department awakened to the possibilities of naval aviation through the efforts of Captain Washington Irving Chambers.
• On 12 January 1861, just prior to the commencement of the Civil War, the Warrington Navy Yard surrendered to secessionists.
• 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.
• In 1971, NAS Pensacola was picked as the headquarters site for CNET, a new command which combined direction and control of all Navy education and training activities and organizations.
• Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field (NPA) has 3 runways.
• In the years following World War I, aviation training slowed down.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Naval Air Station PensacolaForrest Sherman Field", another name for NPA is "KNPA - FAA: NPA".
• Upon the entry of the United States into World War I on 6 April 1917, Pensacola, still the only naval air station, had 38 naval aviators, 163 enlisted men trained in aviation support, and 54 fixed-wing aircraft.
• The National Naval Aviation Museum, the Pensacola Naval Air Station Historic District, the National Park Service-administered Fort Barrancas and its associated Advance Redoubt, and the Pensacola Lighthouse and Museum are all located at NAS Pensacola, as well as Barrancas National Cemetery.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Mafikeng Airport (MBD):

• The furthest airport from Mafikeng Airport (MBD) is Kalaupapa Airport (LUP), which is nearly antipodal to Mafikeng Airport (meaning Mafikeng Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Kalaupapa Airport), and is located 12,081 miles (19,443 kilometers) away in Kalaupapa, Hawaii, United States.
• The closest airport to Mafikeng Airport (MBD) is Lobatse Airport (LOQ), which is located 43 miles (70 kilometers) NNE of MBD.
• In addition to being known as "Mafikeng Airport", another name for MBD is "Mmabatho Airport".
• Mafikeng Airport (MBD) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Mafikeng Airport's high elevation of 4,181 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MBD. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MBD a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.