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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Whiteman Air Force Base (SZL), Knob Noster, Missouri, United States and Gladstone Airport (GLT), Gladstone, Queensland, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,558 miles (or 13,773 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 Gladstone 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 Gladstone 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):

• Other aircraft assigned to Whiteman include the A-10 Thunderbolt II ground-attack fighter.
• 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.
• In May 1942, construction workers descended upon an area known to locals as the "Blue Flats" because of the color of the soil and began building a railroad spur for the new air base.
• The host unit at Whiteman AFB is the 509th Bomb Wing, assigned to the Eighth Air Force of the Air Force Global Strike Command.
• The closest airport to Whiteman Air Force Base (SZL) is Sedalia Regional Airport (DMO), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) E of SZL.
• 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.
• Whiteman initially employed the Minuteman I weapons system until the mid-1960s, when a force modernization program converted the Minuteman I to the Minuteman II.
• The 131st Bomb Wing is a unit of the Missouri Air National Guard.
• In addition to being known as "Whiteman Air Force Base", another name for SZL is "Whiteman AFB".
• Construction on Whiteman continued throughout the 1950s.

Facts about Gladstone Airport (GLT):

• Gladstone Airport (GLT) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Gladstone Airport's relatively low elevation of 59 feet, planes can take off or land at Gladstone 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.
• The furthest airport from Gladstone Airport (GLT) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,918 miles (19,180 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
• The closest airport to Gladstone Airport (GLT) is Rockhampton Airport (ROK), which is located 58 miles (94 kilometers) NW of GLT.
• Gladstone Airport was ranked 27th in Australia for the number of revenue passengers served in financial year 2010-2011.
• The main supplier of scheduled passenger air services is QantasLink, a subsidiary of Qantas, with most services non-stop to, or from Brisbane Airport.
• As of March 2008, QantasLink was scheduled to operate about 38 return services per week between Gladstone and Brisbane using Dash 8 aircraft with seating from 50 to 74 passengers.