Nonstop flight route between Edwards, California, United States and Horta, Azores, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Edwards Air Force Base (EDW), Edwards, California, United States and Horta International Airport (HOR), Horta, Azores, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,736 miles (or 7,622 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 Horta 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 Horta 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The success of these programs attracted a new type of research activity to the base in late 1946.
• A water stop on the Southern Pacific Railroad since 1876, the site was largely unsettled until the early 20th century.
• It is the home of the Air Force Test Center and is the Air Force Materiel Command center of excellence for conducting and supporting research and developmental flight test and evaluation of aerospace systems from concept to combat.
• 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 Main Base is also the home of the Benefield Anechoic Facility, an electromagnetic and radio frequency testing building.

Facts about Horta International Airport (HOR):

• Horta International Airport handled 191,969 passengers last year.
• Because of Horta International Airport's relatively low elevation of 118 feet, planes can take off or land at Horta International 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.
• In 2012, the contamination of the gasoline tanks at Horta airport resulted in a deviation from normal flight operations, resulting in flights being refueled on other islands.
• On the afternoon of 28 July 2011, a refurbished control tower was inaugurated, which permitted the airport to oversee the Central Group, as well as the Western Group of islands.
• The closest airport to Horta International Airport (HOR) is Pico Airport (PIX), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) E of HOR.
• Horta International Airport (HOR) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Horta International Airport", another name for HOR is "Aeroporto Internacional da Horta".
• The airport at Horta was inaugurated on August 24, 1971 by then President Almirante Américo Tomás.
• The furthest airport from Horta International Airport (HOR) is Merimbula Airport (MIM), which is nearly antipodal to Horta International Airport (meaning Horta International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Merimbula Airport), and is located 12,302 miles (19,799 kilometers) away in Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia.