Nonstop flight route between Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Valdosta, Georgia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Moody Air Force Base (VAD), Valdosta, Georgia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,651 miles (or 10,704 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 Moody 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 Moody 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• After pioneering air service into Wake Island in 1935, Pan American World Airways continued to serve the airfield for many years.
• 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.

Facts about Moody Air Force Base (VAD):

• Moody AFB is the home of the 23d Wing of the Air Combat Command.
• The furthest airport from Moody Air Force Base (VAD) is Kalbarri Airport (KAX), which is located 11,363 miles (18,286 kilometers) away in Kalbarri, Western Australia, Australia.
• Following the end of the war, activity at Moody diminished to the point that 24 of the 93 A-26s had to be placed in flyable storage.
• The closest airport to Moody Air Force Base (VAD) is Valdosta Regional AirportValdosta Army Auxiliary Airfield (VLD), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) SSW of VAD.
• The 347th flew the McDonnel-Douglas F-4E until 1988, when it upgraded to the Block 15 General Dynamics F-16A/B.
• On 1 September 1951, Moody was formally transferred from SAC to ATC.
• Originally named Valdosta Airfield when it opened on 15 September 1941, the airfield was renamed Moody Army Airfield on 6 December 1941 in honor of Major George Putnam Moody, an early Air Force pioneer.
• Shortly after the Korean War began on 25 June 1950, Air Training Command took over most combat crew training, thereby relieving operational commands of much of their training burden and allowing them to concentrate on their combat mission.
• In addition to being known as "Moody Air Force Base", another name for VAD is "Moody AFB".