Nonstop flight route between Cordova, Alaska, United States and Fort Sumner, New Mexico, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Merle K. (Mudhole) Smith Airport (CDV), Cordova, Alaska, United States and Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU), Fort Sumner, New Mexico, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,561 miles (or 4,121 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 Merle K. (Mudhole) Smith Airport and Fort Sumner Municipal Airport, 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 Merle K. (Mudhole) Smith Airport and Fort Sumner Municipal Airport. 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 Merle K. (Mudhole) Smith Airport (CDV):

• As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 16,640 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 15,372 enplanements in 2009, and 17,856 in 2010.
• Merle K. (Mudhole) Smith Airport (CDV) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Merle K. (Mudhole) Smith Airport (CDV) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,562 miles (16,998 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• Because of Merle K. (Mudhole) Smith Airport's relatively low elevation of 54 feet, planes can take off or land at Merle K. (Mudhole) Smith 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.
• The closest airport to Merle K. (Mudhole) Smith Airport (CDV) is Cordova Municipal Airport (CKU), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) WNW of CDV.

Facts about Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU):

• Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,167 miles (17,971 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Because of Fort Sumner Municipal Airport's high elevation of 4,165 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at FSU. Combined with a high temperature, this could make FSU a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The airfield's origins date to the 1920s when the Transcontinental Air Transport airline built an airfield in Fort Sumner as part of its coast-to-coast air passenger network, but the site was abandoned when the airline's ambitious plans collapsed in the Great Depression.
• In the 1980s, the airport was chosen as a launch site for NASA's high altitude balloon program.
• The closest airport to Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU) is Cannon Air Force Base Clovis Air Force Base/AAF (CVS), which is located 51 miles (83 kilometers) E of FSU.
• In addition to being known as "Fort Sumner Municipal Airport", another name for FSU is "Fort Sumner Army Airfield".