Nonstop flight route between Altenrhein, Switzerland and Edwards, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between St. Gallen–Altenrhein Airport (ACH), Altenrhein, Switzerland and Edwards Air Force Base (EDW), Edwards, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,882 miles (or 9,466 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 St. Gallen–Altenrhein Airport 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 St. Gallen–Altenrhein Airport 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:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about St. Gallen–Altenrhein Airport (ACH):

• The airport can be reached via motorway A1.
• The airport features a small passenger terminal building and some apron and hangar stands for aircraft such as the Embraer 170, business jets or general aviation planes such as the Cessna 172.
• St. Gallen–Altenrhein Airport (ACH) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "St. Gallen–Altenrhein Airport", another name for ACH is "People's Business Airport".
• The closest airport to St. Gallen–Altenrhein Airport (ACH) is Hohenems-Dornbirn Airport (HOH), which is located only 10 miles (15 kilometers) SE of ACH.
• The furthest airport from St. Gallen–Altenrhein Airport (ACH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to St. Gallen–Altenrhein Airport (meaning St. Gallen–Altenrhein Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,051 miles (19,394 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.

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.
• Jurisdiction of Edwards AFB was transferred from Air Materiel Command on 2 April 1951 to the newly created Air Research and Development Command.
• 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.
• At this time, another colorful character in Edwards' history, Pancho Barnes, built her renowned Rancho Oro Verde Fly-Inn Dude Ranch that would be the scene of many parties and celebrations to come.
• 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.
• As a military airbase, civilian access is severely restricted, but is possible with prior coordination and good reason.
• As with virtually all of the test programs conducted during the war years, most of the actual flight test work on the P-59 was conducted by the contractor.