Nonstop flight route between Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Hemet, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Hemet-Ryan AirportRyan Field (HMT), Hemet, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,723 miles (or 7,601 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 Hemet-Ryan AirportRyan 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 Wake Island Airfield and Hemet-Ryan AirportRyan 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 Wake Island Airfield (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.
• Between 5 and 29 May 1935, Pan American's air base construction vessel, North Haven, landed supplies and equipment on Wilkes Island for eventual rehandling to Peale Island which, because of its more suitable soil and geology, had been selected as site for the PAA seaplane base.
• The closest airport to Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ), which is located 169 miles (272 kilometers) SE of AWK.
• Wake Island Airfield (AWK) currently has only 1 runway.
• British Overseas Airways Corporation also used Wake Island as a refueling stop.
• Another airline that operated into Wake Island was Philippine Airlines with Douglas DC-8 jetliners on a daily westbound service from San Francisco and Honolulu to Manila during the early 1970s.
• 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 first intention to build an air base surfaced in 1935, when Pan American World Airways selected Wake Island as an intermediate support base for their routes to the Far East, especially the Philippines.

Facts about Hemet-Ryan AirportRyan Field (HMT):

• The closest airport to Hemet-Ryan AirportRyan Field (HMT) is Banning Municipal Airport (BNG), which is located only 16 miles (26 kilometers) NE of HMT.
• The airport was inactivated in December 1944 with the drawdown of AAFTC's pilot training program, the airfield was declared surplus and turned over to the Army Corps of Engineers.
• Because of critical need, the strategic location of the base and proven performance and handling of large wildfires, Cal Fire and the state consider the project top priority in the list of firefighting capital improvements.
• The furthest airport from Hemet-Ryan AirportRyan Field (HMT) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,471 miles (18,460 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Construction of the new facility was set to begin in 2008, however, as of 2010, Cal Fire is still waiting for the promised state funds to become available.
• From the beginning of Ryan Air Attack Base, Cal Fire and the USFS used privately owned contracted World War II vintage aircraft.
• The airfield was opened in September 1940 by the United States Army Air Corps.
• Hemet-Ryan AirportRyan Field (HMT) has 2 runways.
• For over 50 years, Hemet-Ryan was a popular site for operating sailplanes.