Nonstop flight route between Quoin Hill, Vanuatu and Tampa, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ), Quoin Hill, Vanuatu and MacDill Air Force Base (MCF), Tampa, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,751 miles (or 10,865 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 Quoin Hill Airfield and MacDill Air Force Base, 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 Quoin Hill Airfield and MacDill Air Force Base. 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 Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ):

• Quoin Hill Airfield was an airfield in North Efate, in Vanuatu.
• Investigations took place in the late 1980s as to whether Quoin Hill could be used as an alternate for Bauerfield International Airport, but this never came to fruition.
• With Japanese forces establishing bases on Guadalcanal which threatened the sea route between the U.S.
• A site was chosen for a bomber airfield and in October the Seebees started constructing a 6,000 feet by 200 feet runway which was completed by the middle of January 1943.
• The base was defended by the 198th Coast Artillery.
• The closest airport to Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ) is Wake Island Airfield (AWK), which is located 169 miles (272 kilometers) NW of UIQ.
• The furthest airport from Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ) is RAF Ascension (ASI), which is located 11,749 miles (18,907 kilometers) away in Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena.

Facts about MacDill Air Force Base (MCF):

• Air defense of the Tampa Bay area was the mission of the 53d Pursuit Group, established at MacDIll on 15 January 1941.
• In addition to being known as "MacDill Air Force Base", another name for MCF is "MacDill AFB".
• The furthest airport from MacDill Air Force Base (MCF) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,436 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• Detachment 1 of the 23d Wing is unique in that it hosts the Deployed Unit Complex at MacDill AFB, providing flight line and logistical support for detachments of Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps tactical jet fighter and attack aircraft utilizing the nearby Avon Park Air Force Range facility, the Avon Range also being operated and maintained by Det 1, 23d Wing.
• The 44th Bombardment Group was activated at MacDill on 15 January 1941 equipped with the Consolidated B-24A Liberator.
• All of these airfields came under the jurisdiction of Third Air Force.
• MacDill Field was one of two major Army Air Corps bases established in the Tampa Bay area in the buildup prior to World War II.
• With the United States entry into World War II, the primary mission of MacDill Field became the training of bombardment units under III Bomber Command.
• Estimates of the number of crew members trained at the base during the war vary from 50,000 to 120,000, with as many as 15,000 troops were stationed at MacDill Field at one time.
• Two secondary Army Airfields, Brooksville Army Airfield and Hillsborough Army Airfield were built and opened in early 1942 to support the flight operations of MacDill and Drew Fields.
• In late 1943, when Second Air Force began transitioning to B-29 Superfortress training, the B-17 mission returned to MacDill which continued through the end of World War II.
• The closest airport to MacDill Air Force Base (MCF) is Peter O. Knight Airport (TPF), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NE of MCF.
• Also located at MacDill are a division of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the Joint Communications Support Element, the Florida Air National Guard's 290th Joint Communications Support Squadron, the Navy Reserve Forces Command's Navy Operational Support Center Tampa, the US Army's 297th Military Intelligence Battalion, the Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory, activities of the U.S.
• The host unit at MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Mobility Wing, assigned to the Air Mobility Command's 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force.