Nonstop flight route between Okinawa Prefecture, Japan and Alpena, Michigan, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA), Okinawa Prefecture, Japan and Alpena County Regional Airport (APN), Alpena, Michigan, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,122 miles (or 11,461 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 Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō and Alpena County Regional 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 Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō and Alpena County Regional 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 Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA):

• The designation of the wing changed on 1 October 1991 to the 18th Wing with the implementation of the Objective Wing concept.
• The furthest airport from Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA) is Paulo Abdala Airport (FBE), which is nearly antipodal to Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (meaning Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Paulo Abdala Airport), and is located 12,381 miles (19,926 kilometers) away in Francisco Beltrao, Paraná, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA) is Naha Airport (OKA), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SW of DNA.
• Since November 1954, the 18th Wing under various designations has been the main United States Air Force operational unit at Kadena.
• On 30 June 1959 an F-100 from the wing crashed on Okinawa during a training flight after suffering an engine fire.
• In addition to being known as "Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō", another name for DNA is "Kadena AFB".
• What the Americans captured was a 4,600 feet strip of badly-damaged coral runway.

Facts about Alpena County Regional Airport (APN):

• Alpena County Regional Airport (APN) has 2 runways.
• As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 7,519 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 7,638 enplanements in 2009, and 8,737 in 2010.
• It is said to be the "Proud home of Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center," the host unit of the Michigan Air National Guard's Alpena Air National Guard Base.
• Because of Alpena County Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 690 feet, planes can take off or land at Alpena County Regional 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 furthest airport from Alpena County Regional Airport (APN) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,184 miles (17,999 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Several scenes of the film Die Hard 2 were shot there.
• The closest airport to Alpena County Regional Airport (APN) is Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport (OSC), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) S of APN.