Nonstop flight route between Edwards, California, United States and Arctic Village, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Edwards Air Force Base (EDW), Edwards, California, United States and Arctic Village Airport (ARC), Arctic Village, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,537 miles (or 4,082 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 Edwards Air Force Base and Arctic Village 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 Edwards Air Force Base and Arctic Village 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 Edwards Air Force Base (EDW):

• In the spring of 1942, however, the immense volume of flight test already being conducted at Wright Field, in Ohio, was one of the factors driving a search for a new site where a "Top Secret" airplane could undergo tests.
• With the arrival of the Bell Aircraft P-59 Airacomet jet fighter, the Mojave Desert station was chosen as a secluded site for testing this super-secret airplane.
• The furthest airport from Edwards Air Force Base (EDW) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,414 miles (18,369 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• As with virtually all of the test programs conducted during the war years, most of the actual flight test work on the P-59 was conducted by the contractor.
• The base has played a significant role in the development of virtually every aircraft to enter the Air Force inventory since World War II.
• Notable occurrences at Edwards include Chuck Yeager's flight that broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1, test flights of the North American X-15, the first landings of the Space Shuttle, and the 1986 around-the-world flight of the Rutan Voyager.
• The first major aerial activity occurred at Muroc in 1937 when the entire Army Air Corps participated in a large-scale maneuver.
• The closest airport to Edwards Air Force Base (EDW) is Mojave Air and Space Port (MHV), which is located only 19 miles (30 kilometers) NW of EDW.
• Jurisdiction of Edwards AFB was transferred from Air Materiel Command on 2 April 1951 to the newly created Air Research and Development Command.

Facts about Arctic Village Airport (ARC):

• The closest airport to Arctic Village Airport (ARC) is Venetie Airport (VEE), which is located 79 miles (127 kilometers) SSW of ARC.
• The furthest airport from Arctic Village Airport (ARC) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,053 miles (16,179 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• Arctic Village Airport (ARC) currently has only 1 runway.