Nonstop flight route between Dover, Delaware, United States and Nikolski, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Dover Air Force Base (DOV), Dover, Delaware, United States and Nikolski Air Station (IKO), Nikolski, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,254 miles (or 6,847 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 Dover Air Force Base and Nikolski 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 Dover Air Force Base and Nikolski 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 Dover Air Force Base (DOV):

• Some of the more memorable flights during the post-war period included the airdrop and test firing of a Minuteman I intercontinental ballistic missile and the delivery of a 40-ton superconducting magnet to Moscow during the Cold War, for which the crew received the Mackay Trophy.
• It is also home to the Air Mobility Command Museum.
• On 8 April 1943, the name of the airfield was changed to Dover Army Air Base.
• The closest airport to Dover Air Force Base (DOV) is Millville Municipal Airport (MIV), which is located 27 miles (43 kilometers) NE of DOV.
• The furthest airport from Dover Air Force Base (DOV) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,750 miles (18,909 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• By 2008, the air traffic tower serving the airfield, built in 1955, was the oldest such tower in use in the United States Air Force.
• In addition to being known as "Dover Air Force Base", another name for DOV is "Dover AFB".
• Dover Airfield was reactivated on 1 August 1950 as a result of the Korean War and the expansion of the United States Air Force in response to the Soviet threat in the Cold War.
• When war broke out between Israel and the combine forces of Egypt and Syria on October 13, 1973 the 436 MAW responded with a 32-day airlift that delivered 22,305 tons of munitions and military equipment to Israel.
• In March 1989, C-5s from Dover delivered special equipment used to clean up the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound.
• On 1 September 1946 as a result of the drawdown of United States forces after World War II, Dover Army Airfield, was placed on temporary inactive status.

Facts about Nikolski Air Station (IKO):

• Because of Nikolski Air Station's relatively low elevation of 77 feet, planes can take off or land at Nikolski 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.
• The airport was built in 1958 to support Nikolski Air Force Station, a Cold War United States Air Force Distant Early Warning Line radar station on Umnak Island.
• The closest airport to Nikolski Air Station (IKO) is Unalaska Airport (DUT), which is located 116 miles (186 kilometers) NE of IKO.
• Nikolski Air Station (IKO) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Nikolski Air Station (IKO) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 11,076 miles (17,824 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.