Nonstop flight route between Sand Island, Midway Atoll, United States and Edwards, California, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from MDY to EDW:
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- About this route
- MDY Airport Information
- EDW Airport Information
- Facts about MDY
- Facts about EDW
- Map of Nearest Airports to MDY
- List of Nearest Airports to MDY
- Map of Furthest Airports from MDY
- List of Furthest Airports from MDY
- Map of Nearest Airports to EDW
- List of Nearest Airports to EDW
- Map of Furthest Airports from EDW
- List of Furthest Airports from EDW
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Henderson Field (MDY), Sand Island, Midway Atoll, United States and Edwards Air Force Base (EDW), Edwards, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,483 miles (or 5,606 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 Henderson Field and Edwards 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 Henderson Field and Edwards 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: | MDY / PMDY |
Airport Name: | Henderson Field |
Location: | Sand Island, Midway Atoll, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 28°12'5"N by 177°22'53"W |
Area Served: | Midway Atoll |
Operator/Owner: | U.S. Dept. of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 18 feet (5 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from MDY |
More Information: | MDY Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | EDW / KEDW |
Airport Name: | Edwards Air Force Base |
Location: | Edwards, California, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 34°54'20"N by 117°53'0"W |
Operator/Owner: | United States Air Force |
View all routes: | Routes from EDW |
More Information: | EDW Maps & Info |
Facts about Henderson Field (MDY):
- Henderson Field is an uncontrolled airport.
- Henderson Field (MDY) currently has only 1 runway.
- Because of Henderson Field's relatively low elevation of 18 feet, planes can take off or land at Henderson 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.
- The closest airport to Henderson Field (MDY) is Johnston Atoll Airport (JON), which is located 937 miles (1,508 kilometers) SE of MDY.
- The furthest airport from Henderson Field (MDY) is Lüderitz Airport (LUD), which is located 11,656 miles (18,759 kilometers) away in Luderitz, Namibia.
Facts about Edwards Air Force Base (EDW):
- Notable occurrences at Edwards include Chuck Yeager's flight that broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1, test flights of the North American X-15, the first landings of the Space Shuttle, and the 1986 around-the-world flight of the Rutan Voyager.
- With the arrival of the Bell Aircraft P-59 Airacomet jet fighter, the Mojave Desert station was chosen as a secluded site for testing this super-secret airplane.
- In December 1949, Muroc was renamed Edwards Air Force Base in honor of Captain Glen Edwards, who was killed a year earlier in the crash of the Northrop YB-49 Flying Wing.
- Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation in southern California, located approximately 22 miles northeast of Lancaster.
- The furthest airport from Edwards Air Force Base (EDW) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,414 miles (18,369 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
- The Main Base is also the home of the Benefield Anechoic Facility, an electromagnetic and radio frequency testing building.
- As a military airbase, civilian access is severely restricted, but is possible with prior coordination and good reason.
- The first major aerial activity occurred at Muroc in 1937 when the entire Army Air Corps participated in a large-scale maneuver.
- The closest airport to Edwards Air Force Base (EDW) is Mojave Air and Space Port (MHV), which is located only 19 miles (30 kilometers) NW of EDW.