Nonstop flight route between Butterworth, South Africa and Columbus, Mississippi, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RMAF Butterworth (UTE), Butterworth, South Africa and Columbus Air Force Base (CBM), Columbus, Mississippi, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,673 miles (or 15,568 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 RMAF Butterworth and Columbus 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 RMAF Butterworth and Columbus 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 RMAF Butterworth (UTE):

• In 1957, the RAF closed the station and it was transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force and it was promptly renamed as RAAF Station Butterworth, becoming the home to numerous Australian fighter and bomber squadrons stationed in Malaya during the Cold War era.
• RMAF Butterworth (UTE) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "RMAF Butterworth", other names for UTE include "TUDM Butterworth", "BWH" and "WMKB".
• Because of RMAF Butterworth's relatively low elevation of 8 feet, planes can take off or land at RMAF Butterworth 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.
• During the Malayan Emergency that was to last from 1948 to 1960, RAF as well as RAAF and RNZAF units stationed at the airfield played an active role from 1950 in helping to curb the communist insurgency in the jungles of Malaya by attacking suspected hideouts and harassing the communist guerrillas.
• The furthest airport from RMAF Butterworth (UTE) is Cap. FAP Guillermo Concha Iberico International Airport (PIU), which is nearly antipodal to RMAF Butterworth (meaning RMAF Butterworth is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cap. FAP Guillermo Concha Iberico International Airport), and is located 12,365 miles (19,900 kilometers) away in Piura, Peru.
• The closest airport to RMAF Butterworth (UTE) is RMAF Butterworth (BWH), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of UTE.

Facts about Columbus Air Force Base (CBM):

• Communist troops from North Korea violated South Korea's borders and fighting broke out in 1950.
• The first KC-135 Stratotanker, piloted by the wing commander, landed on the new runway on 7 January 1959.
• The closest airport to Columbus Air Force Base (CBM) is Columbus-Lowndes County Airport (UBS), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SSE of CBM.
• The furthest airport from Columbus Air Force Base (CBM) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,088 miles (17,844 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi is home of the 14th Flying Training Wing of the Air Education and Training Command.
• In addition to being known as "Columbus Air Force Base", another name for CBM is "Columbus AFB".
• The Columbus flying school received its first aircraft, nine Beech AT-10s and twenty-one AT-8s in early 1942.
• In preparation for this transfer, Air Training Command had activated the 3650th Pilot Training Wing at Columbus on 15 February.
• The 454th Bombardment Wing completed more than 100 missions to South Vietnam without losing a single bomber to enemy aircraft fire.