Nonstop flight route between Coolangatta, Queensland, Australia and Edwards, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gold Coast Airport (OOL), Coolangatta, Queensland, Australia and Edwards Air Force Base (EDW), Edwards, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,229 miles (or 11,634 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 Gold Coast Airport and Edwards 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 Gold Coast Airport and Edwards 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 Gold Coast Airport (OOL):

• Gold Coast Airport handled 5,261,773 passengers last year.
• Gold Coast Airport (OOL) has 2 runways.
• For the 2010–11 financial year, Gold Coast Airport was the sixth busiest airport in Australia in terms of passengers and eighth in aircraftmovements.
• Because of Gold Coast Airport's relatively low elevation of 21 feet, planes can take off or land at Gold Coast 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 airport opened an extension to the main runway as well as a full length parallel taxiway in May 2007.
• The furthest airport from Gold Coast Airport (OOL) is La Palma Airport (SPC), which is located 11,905 miles (19,159 kilometers) away in La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain.
• On 16 November 2010 Jetstar announced new daily direct services to Hobart.
• On 22 September 2008 it was announced that Air Pacific will expand its services to Australia with the introduction of twice weekly flights between Nadi, Fiji and the Gold Coast commencing in December 2008.
• The closest airport to Gold Coast Airport (OOL) is Ballina Byron Gateway Airport (BNK), which is located 46 miles (75 kilometers) S of OOL.

Facts about Edwards Air Force Base (EDW):

• The furthest airport from Edwards Air Force Base (EDW) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,414 miles (18,369 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• The initial use for Muroc was IV Bomber Command Operational Unit training.
• A major reason for the growth of Edwards AFB was the nearness of West Coast aircraft manufacturers.
• The closest airport to Edwards Air Force Base (EDW) is Mojave Air and Space Port (MHV), which is located only 19 miles (30 kilometers) NW of EDW.
• The North Base is located at the north-west corner of Rogers Lake and is the site of the Air Force's most secret test programs at Edwards.
• A water stop on the Southern Pacific Railroad since 1876, the site was largely unsettled until the early 20th century.
• The P-59s were tested at Muroc from October 1942 through February 1944 without a single accident and, though the aircraft did not prove to be combat worthy, the successful conduct of its test program, combined with the success of the Lockheed XP-80 program which followed it in early 1944, sealed the future destiny of the remote high desert installation.