Nonstop flight route between Anchorage, Alaska, United States and Masuda, Shimane, Japan, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), Anchorage, Alaska, United States and Iwami Airport (IWJ), Masuda, Shimane, Japan, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,777 miles (or 6,079 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 Elmendorf Air Force Base and Iwami 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 Elmendorf Air Force Base and Iwami 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 Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF):

• The uncertain world situation in late 1940s and early 1950s caused a major buildup of air defense forces in Alaska.
• The closest airport to Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF) is Merrill Field (MRI), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) SSW of EDF.
• The first Air Force unit to be assigned to Alaska, the 18th Pursuit Squadron, arrived in February 1941.
• In addition to being known as "Elmendorf Air Force Base", another name for EDF is "JB Elmendorf-Richardson".
• The Elmendorf AFB is a site of one of the now decommissioned FLR-9 Wullenweber-class antennas, a node of the now obsolete High Frequency SIGINT direction finding system.
• The furthest airport from Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,542 miles (16,965 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Facts about Iwami Airport (IWJ):

• The closest airport to Iwami Airport (IWJ) is Yamaguchi Ube Airport (UBJ), which is located 59 miles (95 kilometers) SSW of IWJ.
• Iwami Airport (IWJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Iwami Airport's relatively low elevation of 177 feet, planes can take off or land at Iwami 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 Iwami Airport (IWJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Iwami Airport (meaning Iwami Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,147 miles (19,548 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• In addition to being known as "Iwami Airport", other names for IWJ include "石見空港" and "Iwami Kūkō".