Nonstop flight route between Columbus, Mississippi, United States and Anchorage, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Columbus Air Force Base (CBM), Columbus, Mississippi, United States and Merrill Field (MRI), Anchorage, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,272 miles (or 5,266 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 Columbus Air Force Base and Merrill 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 Columbus Air Force Base and Merrill 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 Columbus Air Force Base (CBM):

• Columbus was initially assigned to the AAF Southeast Training Center with the Army Air Force Pilot School activated.
• With the end of World War II, Columbus AAF was first placed on "reduced activity status", and was inactivated on 15 August 1946.
• The furthest airport from Columbus Air Force Base (CBM) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,088 miles (17,844 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• With the Korean War at an end and pilot production needs dropping, the decision was made to close the contract flying school at Columbus.
• The host unit at Columbus is the 14th Flying Training Wing assigned to the Air Education and Training Command.
• The 454th Bombardment Wing completed more than 100 missions to South Vietnam without losing a single bomber to enemy aircraft fire.
• The closest airport to Columbus Air Force Base (CBM) is Columbus-Lowndes County Airport (UBS), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SSE of CBM.
• On 8 January 1943, the War Department constituted and activated the 30th Flying Training Wing at Columbus and assigned it to the AAF Eastern Flying Training Command.
• In addition to being known as "Columbus Air Force Base", another name for CBM is "Columbus AFB".
• As the demand for pilots to support the war in Southeast Asia increased, the number of B-52s based stateside fell because they were needed overseas.

Facts about Merrill Field (MRI):

• The furthest airport from Merrill Field (MRI) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,545 miles (16,970 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• For 12-month period ending August 5, 2004, the airport had 191,550 aircraft operations, an average of 524 per day, 100% of which were general aviation.
• Because of Merrill Field's relatively low elevation of 137 feet, planes can take off or land at Merrill Field 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.
• This was the first official airport in Anchorage when it opened in 1930.
• Merrill Field (MRI) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Merrill Field (MRI) is Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) NNE of MRI.