Nonstop flight route between Knob Noster, Missouri, United States and Cairns, Queensland, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Whiteman Air Force Base (SZL), Knob Noster, Missouri, United States and Cairns Airport (CNS), Cairns, Queensland, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,585 miles (or 13,816 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 Whiteman Air Force Base and Cairns 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 Whiteman Air Force Base and Cairns 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 Whiteman Air Force Base (SZL):

• In addition to being known as "Whiteman Air Force Base", another name for SZL is "Whiteman AFB".
• The 476th Fighter Group, stationed at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, is an Air Force Reserve Command unit linked to the 23rd Fighter Group at Moody.
• Several months after the air division's activation, on 30 Sep 1990, the 509th Bomb Wing moved its headquarters to Whiteman albeit in an unmanned and non-operational state.
• In November 1942, the installation became Sedalia Army Air Field and was assigned to the I Troop Carrier Command of the Army Air Force.
• In June 1961, the Department of Defense chose Whiteman to host the fourth Minuteman ICBM wing.
• The closest airport to Whiteman Air Force Base (SZL) is Sedalia Regional Airport (DMO), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) E of SZL.
• Other aircraft assigned to Whiteman include the A-10 Thunderbolt II ground-attack fighter.
• The furthest airport from Whiteman Air Force Base (SZL) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,815 miles (17,405 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.

Facts about Cairns Airport (CNS):

• Cairns Airport (CNS) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Cairns Airport (CNS) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,832 miles (19,041 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
• The closest airport to Cairns Airport (CNS) is Mareeba Airfield (MRG), which is located 26 miles (41 kilometers) WSW of CNS.
• A$200 million redevelopment of the Domestic terminal started in August 2007 and was completed in 2010.
• Cairns Airport handled 3,848,728 passengers last year.
• The airport has two passenger terminals on the eastern side of the airport on reclaimed mangrove swamp.
• The airport has a single runway which is 3,156 m long.
• Ranks are located near both the International and Domestic Terminals.
• Because of Cairns Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Cairns 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.