Nonstop flight route between Okinawa Prefecture, Japan and Detroit, 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 Willow Run Airport (YIP) (YIP), Detroit, Michigan, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,294 miles (or 11,739 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 Willow Run Airport (YIP), 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 Willow Run Airport (YIP). 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):

• In addition to being known as "Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō", another name for DNA is "Kadena AFB".
• The McDonnell Douglas RF-4C Phantom II replaced the RF-101 in the reconnaissance role in 1967.
• Twentieth Air Force was inactivated in March 1955.
• On 7 June 1946, Headquarters Eighth Air Force moved without personnel or equipment to MacDill AAF, Florida.
• What the Americans captured was a 4,600 feet strip of badly-damaged coral runway.
• At the end of the Eisenhower presidency, around 1,700 nuclear weapons were deployed on shore in the Pacific, 800 of which were at Kadena Air Base.
• 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.

Facts about Willow Run Airport (YIP) (YIP):

• Once production began, it became difficult to introduce changes dictated by field experience in the various overseas theaters onto the production line in a timely fashion.
• The coming of World War II to Europe and the Fall of France in 1940 alarmed many in the United States, and in spite of an official policy of American neutrality, a number of government officials began preparing for the possibility of United States involvement.
• Because of Willow Run Airport (YIP)'s relatively low elevation of 716 feet, planes can take off or land at Willow Run Airport (YIP) 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.
• Willow Run Airport (YIP) (YIP) has 4 runways.
• The closest airport to Willow Run Airport (YIP) (YIP) is Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) E of YIP.
• The furthest airport from Willow Run Airport (YIP) (YIP) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,276 miles (18,147 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In 1956 there were seven commercial passenger carriers operating out of Willow Run.
• By fall 1944 Willow Run had moved from the B-24L to the B-24M, the last Liberator to be built in significant numbers.
• While the planes were being serviced and made ready for overseas movement, personnel for these planes were also being processed.