Nonstop flight route between Knob Noster, Missouri, United States and Luganville, Vanuatu:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from SZL to SON:
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- About this route
- SZL Airport Information
- SON Airport Information
- Facts about SZL
- Facts about SON
- Map of Nearest Airports to SZL
- List of Nearest Airports to SZL
- Map of Furthest Airports from SZL
- List of Furthest Airports from SZL
- Map of Nearest Airports to SON
- List of Nearest Airports to SON
- Map of Furthest Airports from SON
- List of Furthest Airports from SON
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Whiteman Air Force Base (SZL), Knob Noster, Missouri, United States and Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON), Luganville, Vanuatu would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,374 miles (or 11,868 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 Santo-Pekoa International 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 Santo-Pekoa International Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | SZL / KSZL |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Knob Noster, Missouri, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 38°43'49"N by 93°32'53"W |
| View all routes: | Routes from SZL |
| More Information: | SZL Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | SON / NVSS |
| Airport Name: | Santo-Pekoa International Airport |
| Location: | Luganville, Vanuatu |
| GPS Coordinates: | 15°30'20"S by 167°13'17"E |
| Operator/Owner: | Airports Vanuatu Limited |
| Elevation: | 184 feet (56 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from SON |
| More Information: | SON Maps & Info |
Facts about Whiteman Air Force Base (SZL):
- Other aircraft assigned to Whiteman include the A-10 Thunderbolt II ground-attack fighter.
- In addition to being known as "Whiteman Air Force Base", another name for SZL is "Whiteman AFB".
- Missouri Army National Guard 1st Battalion 135th Attack Reconnaissance Brigade, AH-64 Apache
- 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.
- Whiteman AFB is a joint-service base, with Air Force, Army and Navy units.
- Several new buildings emerged from time to time as the base matured.
- 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.
- 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 Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON):
- Luganville Airfield was used as a civilian airstrip until the early 1970s, however as it was on higher ground it was often clouded in and so it was decided to move all operations to the former Pekoa Airfield/Bomber Field No.2 which became Santo-Pekoa International Airport.
- The closest airport to Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) is Norsup Airport (NUS), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) SSE of SON.
- Because of Santo-Pekoa International Airport's relatively low elevation of 184 feet, planes can take off or land at Santo-Pekoa International 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.
- Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) currently has only 1 runway.
- As the war moved further north, Pekoa Airfield was closed on 8 February 1945 and all traffic routed to Palikulo Bay Airfield.
- The furthest airport from Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) is Ouro Sogui Airport (MAX), which is nearly antipodal to Santo-Pekoa International Airport (meaning Santo-Pekoa International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ouro Sogui Airport), and is located 12,400 miles (19,956 kilometers) away in Matam, Senegal.
