Nonstop flight route between Knob Noster, Missouri, United States and Melbourne, Victoria, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Whiteman Air Force Base (SZL), Knob Noster, Missouri, United States and Essendon Airport (MEB), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,320 miles (or 14,999 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 Essendon 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 Essendon 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):

• Whiteman AFB was established in 1942 as Sedalia Glider Base.
• The 509th Force Support Squadron is a part of the * 509th Mission Support Group at Whiteman AFB Missouri.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Whiteman Air Force Base", another name for SZL is "Whiteman AFB".
• Named in honor of 2d Lieutenant George Allison Whiteman.
• Whiteman AFB is the only permanent base for the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber.
• The Air National Guard 131st Bomb Wing and the active-duty 509th Bomb Wing have a unique relationship at Whiteman AFB, in that members of the two units work side-by-side on a daily basis, although the majority of the 131st Bomb Wing visits Whiteman only one weekend per month for drill.
• In the opening months of 1945 Sedalia AAFld began converting from C-47s to C-46s.
• Before completion of the construction, SAC activated the 351st Strategic Missile Wing at Whiteman on 1 Feb 1963.
• Construction on Whiteman continued throughout the 1950s.
• The closest airport to Whiteman Air Force Base (SZL) is Sedalia Regional Airport (DMO), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) E of SZL.

Facts about Essendon Airport (MEB):

• The airfield itself also has undergone a major upgrade with the installation of lighting and signage systems to bring the airport to International Civil Aviation Organization standards.
• In addition to being known as "Essendon Airport", another name for MEB is "Melbourne/Essendon".
• Because of Essendon Airport's relatively low elevation of 282 feet, planes can take off or land at Essendon 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 closest airport to Essendon Airport (MEB) is Melbourne Airport (MEL), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NW of MEB.
• The major passenger airlines using Essendon in the postwar years until scheduled air services were transferred to Tullamarine were Ansett Airlines and Trans Australia Airlines.
• The furthest airport from Essendon Airport (MEB) is Flores Airport (FLW), which is nearly antipodal to Essendon Airport (meaning Essendon Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Flores Airport), and is located 12,192 miles (19,620 kilometers) away in Flores Island, Azores, Portugal.
• Essendon Airport (MEB) has 2 runways.
• The airport was extended with additional land during the 1930s.
• International flights departed mainly from Sydney during Essendon's years of operation, and there were regular daily flights between the two largest metropolitan areas in Australia.
• In 2001, the Commonwealth Government sold its management rights for the airport to Edgelear Pty.