Nonstop flight route between Edwards, California, United States and Shymkent, Kazakhstan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Edwards Air Force Base (EDW), Edwards, California, United States and Shymkent International Airport (CIT), Shymkent, Kazakhstan would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,078 miles (or 11,390 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 Shymkent International 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 Shymkent International 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):

• Conscious that March Field was located in an area of increasing growth, and with the need for bombing and gunnery ranges for his units, base and 1st Wing commander Lieutenant Colonel Henry H.
• 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.
• 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.
• With the X-1, flight testing at Muroc began to assume two distinct identities.
• 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.
• The first major aerial activity occurred at Muroc in 1937 when the entire Army Air Corps participated in a large-scale maneuver.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Shymkent International Airport (CIT):

• After a protocol signed in November 2012 by the governments of Kazakhstan and France, French forces withdrawing from Afghanistan received authorization to use Shymkent Airport.
• The basis for the airport was an agricultural airbase built in 1932.
• The furthest airport from Shymkent International Airport (CIT) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,385 miles (18,322 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• The closest airport to Shymkent International Airport (CIT) is Tashkent International Airport (TAS), which is located 77 miles (124 kilometers) S of CIT.
• Shymkent International Airport (CIT) has 3 runways.
• In 2004, the airport handled 97,000 passengers.
• In addition to being known as "Shymkent International Airport", another name for CIT is "Халықаралық Шымкент Әуежайы".