Nonstop flight route between Anchorage, Alaska, United States and Chaitén, Los Lagos, Chile:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), Anchorage, Alaska, United States and Chaitén Airfield (WCH), Chaitén, Los Lagos, Chile would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,377 miles (or 13,481 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 Chaitén Airfield, 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 Chaitén Airfield. 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):

• Despite a diminished number of personnel and aircraft, a turning point in Elmendorf's history occurred in 1970 with the arrival of the 43d Tactical Fighter Squadron in June 1970 from MacDill AFB, Florida.
• In addition to being known as "Elmendorf Air Force Base", another name for EDF is "JB Elmendorf-Richardson".
• 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.
• 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 closest airport to Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF) is Merrill Field (MRI), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) SSW of EDF.
• On 12 November 1940, the War Department formally designated what had been popularly referred to as Elmendorf Field as Fort Richardson.

Facts about Chaitén Airfield (WCH):

• Chaitén Airfield (WCH) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Chaitén Airfield's relatively low elevation of 13 feet, planes can take off or land at Chaitén Airfield 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 Chaitén Airfield (WCH) is Mandalgovi Airport (MXW), which is nearly antipodal to Chaitén Airfield (meaning Chaitén Airfield is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Mandalgovi Airport), and is located 12,235 miles (19,690 kilometers) away in Mandalgovi, Dundgovi, Mongolia.
• In addition to being known as "Chaitén Airfield", other names for WCH include "Chaitén Airfield (Chaitén)" and "Aeródromo Chaitén".
• The closest airport to Chaitén Airfield (WCH) is Gamboa Airport (WCA), which is located 63 miles (101 kilometers) WNW of WCH.