Nonstop flight route between Clovis, New Mexico, United States and Anchorage, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Cannon Air Force Base Clovis Air Force Base/AAF (CVS), Clovis, New Mexico, United States and Merrill Field (MRI), Anchorage, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,749 miles (or 4,425 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 Cannon Air Force Base Clovis Air Force Base/AAF and Merrill Field, 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 Cannon Air Force Base Clovis Air Force Base/AAF and Merrill Field. 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 Cannon Air Force Base Clovis Air Force Base/AAF (CVS):

• The first USAF unit to use Clovis AFB was the Air National Guard's 140th Fighter-Bomber Wing, which arrived in October 1951 after being activated due to the Korean War.
• The closest airport to Cannon Air Force Base Clovis Air Force Base/AAF (CVS) is Clovis Municipal Airport (CVN), which is located only 14 miles (23 kilometers) ENE of CVS.
• The furthest airport from Cannon Air Force Base Clovis Air Force Base/AAF (CVS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,139 miles (17,926 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• With the Air National Guardsmen returning to state control, on 1 January 1953 TAC assigned the 50th Fighter-Bomber Wing to Clovis on 1 January 1953.
• In addition to being known as "Cannon Air Force Base Clovis Air Force Base/AAF", another name for CVS is "Cannon AFB".
• Several changes occurred at Clovis AFB in 1957.
• Units from Cannon deployed the first F-100 squadron to Thailand in 1962–1963, and South Vietnam in 1964.
• A second wing, the 37th Fighter-Bomber Wing, was planned for activation at Clovis to replace the 50th.

Facts about Merrill Field (MRI):

• For 12-month period ending August 5, 2004, the airport had 191,550 aircraft operations, an average of 524 per day, 100% of which were general aviation.
• Merrill Field (MRI) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from Merrill Field (MRI) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,545 miles (16,970 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• The closest airport to Merrill Field (MRI) is Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) NNE of MRI.
• The airstrip is still in use today as the primary field for private wheel equipped aircraft in the warmer months and for ski equipped in the winter.
• Because of Merrill Field's relatively low elevation of 137 feet, planes can take off or land at Merrill Field 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.
• This was the first official airport in Anchorage when it opened in 1930.