Nonstop flight route between Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Kincheloe Air Force Base (INR), Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,111 miles (or 9,834 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 Kincheloe 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 Wake Island Airfield and Kincheloe 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 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.
• British Overseas Airways Corporation also used Wake Island as a refueling stop.
• 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.
• Wake Island Airfield is a military airport located on Wake Island, which is known for the Battle of Wake Island.
• 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.
• Japan Airlines used both Wake Island and Honolulu as stops on its initial Tokyo-San Francisco service using Douglas DC-6s in the mid-1950s.
• Wake Island Airfield (AWK) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ), which is located 169 miles (272 kilometers) SE of AWK.
• 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.

Facts about Kincheloe Air Force Base (INR):

• Kinross was considered a vital Air Defense Command base, an alert-status military base equipped with interceptors ready 24/7 to respond to unknown aircraft picked up by Ground Control Radar stations in the Great Lakes region.
• In October, 1952, the 4685th Air Base Squadron was assigned to the reactivated Kinross AFB.
• The 4239th Strategic Wing was inactivated as the 449th Bombardment Wing was activated on 15 Nov 1962 and organized on 1 February 1963, assigned to SAC's Second Air Force, 40th Air Division.
• The closest airport to Kincheloe Air Force Base (INR) is Chippewa County International Airport (CIU), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of INR.
• The furthest airport from Kincheloe Air Force Base (INR) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,103 miles (17,869 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• On 18 August 1955, the 534th ADS was inactivated and immediately replaced by the 507th Fighter Group in a name-only re-designation.
• In November, 1961, following two years of construction, the 4239th Strategic Wing of the Strategic Air Command arrived with B-52 bombers.
• In the 1950s, the Air Force adopted a policy of dispersing Strategic Air Command bombers and tankers.