Nonstop flight route between Rottnest Island, Western Australia, Australia and Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Rottnest Airport (RTS), Rottnest Island, Western Australia, Australia and Patrick Air Force Base (COF), Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,438 miles (or 18,408 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 Rottnest 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 Rottnest 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 Rottnest Airport (RTS):

• Rottnest Island Airport is a small airport for light aircraft, situated about 800 m from the main settlement at Thomson Bay, Rottnest Island and 10 nautical miles northwest of Fremantle.
• The furthest airport from Rottnest Airport (RTS) is L.F. Wade International Airport (BDA), which is nearly antipodal to Rottnest Airport (meaning Rottnest Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from L.F. Wade International Airport), and is located 12,409 miles (19,970 kilometers) away in Ferry Reach (near Hamilton), Bermuda.
• Rottnest Airlines operated the service until 1999 when it was taken over by Frank Stynman who operates a four and six-seater daily service from Jandakot called Rottnest Air-Taxi.
• MacRobertson Miller Airlines took over services after Wood's Airways using both DC-3 and Fokker F27 Friendship, until the route became uneconomical.
• Because of Rottnest Airport's relatively low elevation of 12 feet, planes can take off or land at Rottnest 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.
• Rottnest Airport (RTS) currently has only 1 runway.
• At one stage, the 32 km Perth to Rottnest flight was the world's shortest scheduled air route.
• The closest airport to Rottnest Airport (RTS) is Jandakot Airport (JAD), which is located 21 miles (34 kilometers) ESE of RTS.
• The single 1,290 m × 18 m runway runs east-west and is situated behind Thomsons Bay and south of Government House Lake.

Facts about Patrick Air Force Base (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.
• Authorized by the Naval Expansion Act of 1938, Naval Air Station Banana River was commissioned on October 1, 1940 as a subordinate base of the Naval Air Operational Training Command NAS Jacksonville, Florida.
• On May 3, 1951, the Long Range Proving Ground Division was assigned to the newly created Air Research and Development Command.
• NAS Banana River was transferred to the United States Air Force on September 1, 1948 and renamed the Joint Long Range Proving Ground on June 10, 1949.
• 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 920th Rescue Wing, part of Air Force Reserve Command, is another tenant command headquartered at Patrick AFB and is the installation's only military flying unit.
• 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 addition to being known as "Patrick Air Force Base", another name for COF is "Patrick AFB".