Nonstop flight route between Bankstown (near Sydney), New South Wales, Australia and Fairbanks / Fort Wainwright, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Bankstown Airport (BWU), Bankstown (near Sydney), New South Wales, Australia and Ladd Army Airfield (FBK), Fairbanks / Fort Wainwright, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,576 miles (or 12,192 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 Bankstown Airport and Ladd Army Airfield, 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 Bankstown Airport and Ladd Army Airfield. 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 Bankstown Airport (BWU):

• De Havilland Australia has been affiliated with the airport opening a factory at the airfield in 1942, occupying the area to the south of the runway.
• In addition to being known as "Bankstown Airport", another name for BWU is "Sydney/Bankstown Airport".
• The closest airport to Bankstown Airport (BWU) is Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport (SYD), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) E of BWU.
• Bankstown Airport (BWU) has 3 runways.
• Because of Bankstown Airport's relatively low elevation of 34 feet, planes can take off or land at Bankstown Airport 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 1970 the government put forth a proposal to expand the airport's operations but this was vigorously opposed by the local community.
• On 15 September 1982, a Douglas C-47, stored in the open, was damaged when the pilot of a light aircraft committed suicide by deliberately crashing it nearby.
• The furthest airport from Bankstown Airport (BWU) is Santa Maria Airport (SMA), which is nearly antipodal to Bankstown Airport (meaning Bankstown Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Santa Maria Airport), and is located 12,135 miles (19,529 kilometers) away in Santa Maria, Portugal.

Facts about Ladd Army Airfield (FBK):

• The furthest airport from Ladd Army Airfield (FBK) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,286 miles (16,554 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• Ladd Army Airfield (FBK) currently has only 1 runway.
• Weather and Testing Units
• By the end of the war, 7,926 aircraft were ferried though Ladd Field.
• Alaska's transportation infrastructure at the time was so limited and the problem of military supply so acute, it also made sense to concentrate the bases along existing supply lines near Anchorage and Fairbanks.
• The airplanes arrived at Ladd were stripped of all but basic instrumentation and armament.
• In addition to being known as "Ladd Army Airfield", another name for FBK is "(Ladd Air Force Base)".
• Ladd was not exclusively an Air Force site.
• Because of Ladd Army Airfield's relatively low elevation of 454 feet, planes can take off or land at Ladd Army 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.
• Testing at Ladd Field began again in 1942, but by 1943 aircraft cold-weather testing had become a second priority, as Ladd became the hub for fighters and bombers destined for the "Forgotten 1,000 Mile War" in the Aleutians against the Japanese or on their way to Soviet forces as part of the Lend-Lease program.
• The closest airport to Ladd Army Airfield (FBK) is Fairbanks International Airport (FAI), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) WSW of FBK.