Nonstop flight route between Johannesburg, South Africa and Fairbanks, Alaska, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GCJ to EIL:
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- About this route
- GCJ Airport Information
- EIL Airport Information
- Facts about GCJ
- Facts about EIL
- Map of Nearest Airports to GCJ
- List of Nearest Airports to GCJ
- Map of Furthest Airports from GCJ
- List of Furthest Airports from GCJ
- Map of Nearest Airports to EIL
- List of Nearest Airports to EIL
- Map of Furthest Airports from EIL
- List of Furthest Airports from EIL
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Central Airport (GCJ), Johannesburg, South Africa and Eielson Air Force Base (EIL), Fairbanks, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,756 miles (or 15,701 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 Grand Central Airport and Eielson 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 Grand Central Airport and Eielson Air Force Base. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | GCJ / FAGC |
Airport Name: | Grand Central Airport |
Location: | Johannesburg, South Africa |
GPS Coordinates: | 25°59'11"S by 28°8'24"E |
Area Served: | Johannesburg |
Operator/Owner: | Private |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 5327 feet (1,624 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from GCJ |
More Information: | GCJ Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | EIL / PAEI |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Fairbanks, Alaska, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 64°39'56"N by 147°6'5"W |
View all routes: | Routes from EIL |
More Information: | EIL Maps & Info |
Facts about Grand Central Airport (GCJ):
- The airfield was started in the 1930s by a group of motor racing enthusiasts who were also interested in flying.
- Because of Grand Central Airport's high elevation of 5,327 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GCJ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GCJ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- The furthest airport from Grand Central Airport (GCJ) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,992 miles (19,299 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
- Grand Central Airport (GCJ) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Grand Central Airport (GCJ) is O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB), which is located only 12 miles (20 kilometers) SSE of GCJ.
- Grand Central is a fully equipped airfield and is open 24 hours a day.
Facts about Eielson Air Force Base (EIL):
- On 7 June 1943, the Western Defense Command ordered construction of a new airfield near present-day Fort Wainwright, then an Army airfield named after Major Arthur Ladd.
- The closest airport to Eielson Air Force Base (EIL) is Ladd Army Airfield (FBK), which is located only 19 miles (31 kilometers) NW of EIL.
- The furthest airport from Eielson Air Force Base (EIL) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,295 miles (16,568 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
- For the next 34 years, the 5010th served as host-unit at Eielson.
- In addition to being known as "Eielson Air Force Base", another name for EIL is "Eielson AFB".
- Another change involved the 3rd Fighter Training Squadron, which was replaced by the 353rd Fighter Squadron.
- Today the 1st Brigade 25th Infantry Division and the 4th Brigade 25th Infantry Division can be found training there.
- The 58th Weather Squadron remained at Eielson until 8 August 1958.