Nonstop flight route between Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Great Bend, Kansas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Great Bend Municipal Airport (GBD), Great Bend, Kansas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,635 miles (or 9,069 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 Wake Island Airfield and Great Bend Municipal Airport, 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 Wake Island Airfield and Great Bend Municipal Airport. 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 Wake Island Airfield (AWK):

• From 1935 until 1940, when two typhoons swept Wake with resultant extensive damage to the now elaborately developed Pan American facilities, development and use of the base were steady but uneventful.
• The furthest airport from Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is RAF Ascension (ASI), which is located 11,652 miles (18,752 kilometers) away in Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena.
• The closest airport to Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ), which is located 169 miles (272 kilometers) SE of AWK.
• Because of Wake Island Airfield's relatively low elevation of 23 feet, planes can take off or land at Wake Island Airfield 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.
• Wake Island Airfield (AWK) currently has only 1 runway.
• British Overseas Airways Corporation also used Wake Island as a refueling stop.

Facts about Great Bend Municipal Airport (GBD):

• Great Bend Municipal Airport (GBD) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Great Bend Municipal Airport (GBD) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,769 miles (17,331 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• As per the Federal Aviation Administration, this airport had 1,407 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 927 in 2009, and 719 in 2010.
• The closest airport to Great Bend Municipal Airport (GBD) is Hays Regional Airport (HYS), which is located 41 miles (66 kilometers) NNW of GBD.
• The airport is the site of the first nationwide NHRA event, held in 1955.
• During World War II, the facility was Great Bend Army Airfield and was used for United States Army Air Forces Second Air Force training.