Nonstop flight route between San Bernardino, California, United States and Mareeba, Queensland, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Norton Air Force Base (SBD), San Bernardino, California, United States and Mareeba Airfield (MRG), Mareeba, Queensland, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,283 miles (or 11,721 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 Norton Air Force Base and Mareeba Airfield, 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 Norton Air Force Base and Mareeba Airfield. 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 Norton Air Force Base (SBD):

• The furthest airport from Norton Air Force Base (SBD) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,447 miles (18,423 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• Major secondary missions of Norton Air Force Base was as Headquarters Air Defense Command for Southern California, during the 1950s and 1960s.
• For the majority of its operational lifetime, Norton was a logistics depot and heavy-lift transport facility for a variety of military aircraft, equipment and supplies as part of Air Materiel/Air Force Logistics Command, then as part of Military Airlift/Air Mobility Command.
• Norton Air Force Base began before World War II as Municipal Airport, San Bernardino under Army Air Corps jurisdiction.
• In addition to being known as "Norton Air Force Base", another name for SBD is "Norton AFB".
• Discrete C-130 Hercules modification tests were conducted out of Area II of the base in the late 1960s, with the 1198th Operational Evaluation and Training Squadron operating four highly classified C-130E special operations testbeds modified at Lockheed Air Services, at near-by Ontario Airport under projects Thin Slice and Heavy Chain.
• A change of mission in 1966 from Air Force Logistics Command to Military Airlift Command meant that Norton became one of six Military Airlift Command strategic-airlift bases, supporting US Army and Marine Corps' airlift requirements among other functions.
• The last of the facilities on the base were closed in 1995.
• The closest airport to Norton Air Force Base (SBD) is San Bernardino International Airport (SBT), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) S of SBD.

Facts about Mareeba Airfield (MRG):

• Mareeba Airfield (MRG) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Mareeba Airfield (MRG) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,810 miles (19,007 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
• The closest airport to Mareeba Airfield (MRG) is Cairns Airport (CNS), which is located 26 miles (41 kilometers) ENE of MRG.
• In addition to being known as "Mareeba Airfield", another name for MRG is "Mareeba Airport".
• Today, the airfield hosts a museum with several World War II vintage airplanes on display in a flyable condition, and a major maintenance facility for Mission Aviation Fellowship.
• With the departure of the American units, Mareeba was then used by Nos 5 and 100 Squadrons, No 5 Communication Unit and a variety of Royal Australian Air Force support units, with No 24 Operational Base Unit disbanding in early 1946.