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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Catalina AirportBuffalo Springs Airport (CIB), Avalon, California, United States and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,511 miles (or 5,651 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 Catalina AirportBuffalo Springs 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 Catalina AirportBuffalo Springs 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 Catalina AirportBuffalo Springs Airport (CIB):

• Catalina Airport is a privately owned airport located six miles northwest of the central business district of Avalon, California in the middle of Catalina Island.
• In addition to being known as "Catalina AirportBuffalo Springs Airport", another name for CIB is "AVX".
• Catalina AirportBuffalo Springs Airport (CIB) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport originally opened as "Buffalo Springs Airport" in the late 1930s and was made by leveling off the top of a hill.
• The furthest airport from Catalina AirportBuffalo Springs Airport (CIB) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,521 miles (18,541 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• The closest airport to Catalina AirportBuffalo Springs Airport (CIB) is Zamperini FieldLomita Landing Strip (TOA), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) N of CIB.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• The aerial photos taken on the raid showed the Japanese were building up forces in the area, transferring aircraft presumably from air bases on Hokkaido.
• 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.
• It also became a Strategic Air Command refueling site for B-52 Stratofortress bombers and KC-135 tankers as part of Operation Chrome Dome.
• 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.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• By the end of 1944, several hundred American airmen had been interned by the Russians after their crippled aircraft landed on Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula.