Nonstop flight route between Shchyolkovo (Moscow Oblast), Russia and Edwards, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Chkalovsky Airport (CKL), Shchyolkovo (Moscow Oblast), Russia and Edwards Air Force Base (EDW), Edwards, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,006 miles (or 9,666 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 Chkalovsky Airport and Edwards Air Force Base, 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 Chkalovsky Airport and Edwards Air Force Base. 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 Chkalovsky Airport (CKL):

• Because of Chkalovsky Airport's relatively low elevation of 499 feet, planes can take off or land at Chkalovsky 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.
• Chkalovsky Airport (CKL) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Chkalovsky Airport (CKL) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,712 miles (17,240 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Chkalovsky Airport", another name for CKL is "Чкаловский (аэропорт)".
• The closest airport to Chkalovsky Airport (CKL) is Bykovo Airport (BKA), which is located only 18 miles (28 kilometers) S of CKL.

Facts about Edwards Air Force Base (EDW):

• It is the home of the Air Force Test Center and is the Air Force Materiel Command center of excellence for conducting and supporting research and developmental flight test and evaluation of aerospace systems from concept to combat.
• The furthest airport from Edwards Air Force Base (EDW) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,414 miles (18,369 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• The closest airport to Edwards Air Force Base (EDW) is Mojave Air and Space Port (MHV), which is located only 19 miles (30 kilometers) NW of EDW.
• As a military airbase, civilian access is severely restricted, but is possible with prior coordination and good reason.
• In the spring of 1942, however, the immense volume of flight test already being conducted at Wright Field, in Ohio, was one of the factors driving a search for a new site where a "Top Secret" airplane could undergo tests.
• Notable occurrences at Edwards include Chuck Yeager's flight that broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1, test flights of the North American X-15, the first landings of the Space Shuttle, and the 1986 around-the-world flight of the Rutan Voyager.
• With the X-1, flight testing at Muroc began to assume two distinct identities.
• The Main Base is also the home of the Benefield Anechoic Facility, an electromagnetic and radio frequency testing building.