Nonstop flight route between Emigrant Gap, California, United States and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Blue Canyon–Nyack Airport (BLU), Emigrant Gap, California, United States and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,146 miles (or 5,063 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 Blue Canyon–Nyack Airport and Eareckson Air Station, 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 Blue Canyon–Nyack Airport and Eareckson Air Station. 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 Blue Canyon–Nyack Airport (BLU):

• Runway length = 3,300 feet, width = 50 feet
• Airport elevation = 5284.0 feet, 1611 meters
• Blue Canyon–Nyack Airport is an airport in Emigrant Gap, Placer County, California.
• The closest airport to Blue Canyon–Nyack Airport (BLU) is Auburn Municipal Airport (AUN), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) SW of BLU.
• The furthest airport from Blue Canyon–Nyack Airport (BLU) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,220 miles (18,056 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• The airport is served by a single, short, asphalt runway.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• The spring of 1944 brought improving weather and the B-24s and PV-1s to fly more missions over the Kuriles.
• The furthest airport from Eareckson Air Station (SYA) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,668 miles (17,168 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
• The closest airport to Eareckson Air Station (SYA) is Casco Cove Coast Guard Station (ATU), which is located 40 miles (65 kilometers) WNW of SYA.
• In July 1973, Raytheon won a contract to build a system called COBRA DANE on Shemya.
• Because of Eareckson Air Station's relatively low elevation of 97 feet, planes can take off or land at Eareckson Air Station 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.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• The mission of Eleventh Air Force was to take advantage of the new airfields on Shemya and Attu, and carry out offensive operations against the enemy forces in the Kuriles.
• In 1958, the Air Force resumed operations on Shemya in support of various Air Force and Army strategic intelligence collection activities.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• On 28 May 1943, a small detachment of Alaskan Scouts began reconnaissance of Shemya, a small, flat, uninhabited island 35 miles to the east of Attu.