Nonstop flight route between Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia and Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Port Macquarie Airport (PQQ), Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia and Patrick Air Force Base (COF), Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,256 miles (or 14,896 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 Port Macquarie Airport and Patrick 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 Port Macquarie Airport and Patrick 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 Port Macquarie Airport (PQQ):

• Port Macquarie Airport handled 218,897 passengers last year.
• On 4 February 2008, Virgin Blue commenced direct scheduled services between Sydney and Port Macquarie.
• The furthest airport from Port Macquarie Airport (PQQ) is Santa Maria Airport (SMA), which is nearly antipodal to Port Macquarie Airport (meaning Port Macquarie Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Santa Maria Airport), and is located 12,038 miles (19,373 kilometers) away in Santa Maria, Portugal.
• Because of Port Macquarie Airport's relatively low elevation of 15 feet, planes can take off or land at Port Macquarie 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.
• On 28 July 2011, Virgin Australia announced its intention to commence a daily Brisbane to Port Macquarie service from October 2011.
• The closest airport to Port Macquarie Airport (PQQ) is Kempsey Airport (KPS), which is located 26 miles (41 kilometers) NNW of PQQ.
• Port Macquarie Airport (PQQ) has 2 runways.

Facts about Patrick Air Force Base (COF):

• Three months after World War II, on December 5, 1945, NAS Banana River had an ancillary role in the disappearance of Flight 19, a formation of five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers, which had departed NAS Fort Lauderdale, Florida on a routine over-water training mission.
• The closest airport to Patrick Air Force Base (COF) is Merritt Island Airport (COI), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) NNW of COF.
• The host wing for Patrick AFB is the 45th Space Wing, whose officers and airmen manage all launches of unmanned rockets at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station 12 miles to the north.
• In addition to being known as "Patrick Air Force Base", another name for COF is "Patrick AFB".
• The furthest airport from Patrick Air Force Base (COF) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,550 miles (18,587 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• In February 2005, the Patrick AFB Officers Club was destroyed by an accidental fire.
• At 19:50, the tanker SS Gaines Mills reported seeing a mid-air explosion, then flames leaping 100 feet high and burning on the sea for 10 minutes.