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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Dover Air Force Base (DOV), Dover, Delaware, United States and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,853 miles (or 7,810 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 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 Dover Air Force Base 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 Dover Air Force Base (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.
• In addition to being known as "Dover Air Force Base", another name for DOV is "Dover AFB".
• The origins of Dover Air Force Base begin in March 1941 when the United States Army Air Corps indicated a need for the airfield as a training airfield and assumed jurisdiction over the municipal airport at Dover, Delaware.
• On April 1, 1952, Dover was transferred to the Military Air Transport Service and became home to 1607th Air Transport Wing.
• The closest airport to Dover Air Force Base (DOV) is Millville Municipal Airport (MIV), which is located 27 miles (43 kilometers) NE of DOV.
• In 1992, with the disestablishment of Military Air Command, Dover AFB was transferred to the newly established Air Mobility Command and the 436 MAW and 512 MAW were redesignated as the 436th Airlift Wing and the 512th Airlift Wing, respectively.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• 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.
• With the successful completion of the Aleutian Campaign in August 1943, Eleventh Air Force came within striking distance of the Japanese Kurile Islands, the northernmost being 750 miles to the south-southwest of Shemya.
• By August, Eleventh Air Force B-24s were carrying out successful and accurate attacks on the Japanese military installations and the B-25s were successful in driving the Japanese fishing and much of the shipping out of the North Pacific.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• 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.
• 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.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• 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.
• The base host squadron was re-designated the 5073rd Air Base Squadron on October 1962, and upgraded to a group on 15 October 1974 in recognition of the number and complexities of the tenant units it supported.