Nonstop flight route between Fort Rucker/Ozark, Alabama, United States and Vadsø, Finnmark, Norway:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Cairns Army Airfield (AAF) (OZR), Fort Rucker/Ozark, Alabama, United States and Vadsø Airport (VDS), Vadsø, Finnmark, Norway would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,751 miles (or 7,645 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 Cairns Army Airfield (AAF) and Vadsø 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 Cairns Army Airfield (AAF) and Vadsø 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 Cairns Army Airfield (AAF) (OZR):

• Cairns is the busiest airfield in the Army, training large numbers of Army aviators both day and night with an average annual traffic count of approximately 240,000 movements.
• The closest airport to Cairns Army Airfield (AAF) (OZR) is Lowe Army Heliport (AHP) (LOR), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NNW of OZR.
• Because of Cairns Army Airfield (AAF)'s relatively low elevation of 301 feet, planes can take off or land at Cairns Army Airfield (AAF) 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.
• Cairns Army Airfield (AAF) (OZR) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Cairns Army Airfield (AAF)", other names for OZR include "Cairns Army Airfield" and "Fort Rucker".
• In 2012 the controllers handled 245,000 aircraft movements without incident.
• The furthest airport from Cairns Army Airfield (AAF) (OZR) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,214 miles (18,047 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The Aviation Training Brigade consists of five battalions that conduct flight training at Fort Rucker at three training sites.
• Needing a location to shoot all takeoffs and landings for the 1949 film Twelve O'Clock High, including the spectacular B-17 Flying Fortress belly-landing sequence early in the film, director Henry King selected Ozark since its dark runways more closely matched wartime bases in England as opposed to the light-colored runways at nearby Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, the primary shoot location.

Facts about Vadsø Airport (VDS):

• The furthest airport from Vadsø Airport (VDS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,407 miles (16,748 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Widerøe operated Twin Otters on the route until 1995, when the Dash 8 was introduced.
• The first seaplane route to Vadsø was started by Widerøe in 1938, which flew along the coast south to Trondheim.
• In addition to being known as "Vadsø Airport", another name for VDS is "Vadsø lufthavn".
• Because of Vadsø Airport's relatively low elevation of 127 feet, planes can take off or land at Vadsø 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.
• Vadsø Airport handled 81,772 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Vadsø Airport (VDS) is Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen (KKN), which is located 24 miles (38 kilometers) S of VDS.