Nonstop flight route between Arcachon, France and Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between La Teste-de-Buch Airport (XAC), Arcachon, France and Patrick Air Force Base (COF), Cocoa Beach, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,386 miles (or 7,059 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 La Teste-de-Buch Airport and Patrick 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 La Teste-de-Buch Airport and Patrick 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 La Teste-de-Buch Airport (XAC):

• The closest airport to La Teste-de-Buch Airport (XAC) is Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport (BOD), which is located 25 miles (41 kilometers) NE of XAC.
• The furthest airport from La Teste-de-Buch Airport (XAC) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to La Teste-de-Buch Airport (meaning La Teste-de-Buch Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,200 miles (19,634 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• La Teste-de-Buch Airport (XAC) has 2 runways.
• Because of La Teste-de-Buch Airport's relatively low elevation of 49 feet, planes can take off or land at La Teste-de-Buch 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.
• In addition to being known as "La Teste-de-Buch Airport", another name for XAC is "Aéroport d'Arcachon - La Teste-de-Buch".

Facts about Patrick Air Force Base (COF):

• Additional tenant activities at Patrick AFB include the 920th Rescue Wing, the Air Force Technical Applications Center and the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute.
• Authorized by the Naval Expansion Act of 1938, Naval Air Station Banana River was commissioned on October 1, 1940 as a subordinate base of the Naval Air Operational Training Command NAS Jacksonville, Florida.
• The 920th Rescue Wing, part of Air Force Reserve Command, is another tenant command headquartered at Patrick AFB and is the installation's only military flying unit.
• The furthest airport from Patrick Air Force Base (COF) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,550 miles (18,587 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "Patrick Air Force Base", another name for COF is "Patrick AFB".
• Five of the victims of the Khobar Towers bombing in 1996 were home stationed at Patrick AFB as part of the 71st Rescue Squadron.
• Cost comparison studies done in the early 1950s pointed out the desirability of letting contractors operate the station.
• The closest airport to Patrick Air Force Base (COF) is Merritt Island Airport (COI), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) NNW of COF.