Nonstop flight route between Edwards, California, United States and Jiayuguan, Gansu, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Edwards Air Force Base (EDW), Edwards, California, United States and Jiayuguan Airport (JGN), Jiayuguan, Gansu, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,779 miles (or 10,910 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 Jiayuguan 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 Jiayuguan 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 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.
• Edwards is also home to several other units from DOD, Air Force, Army, Navy, FAA, USPS and many companies that support the primary mission or the personnel stationed there.
• 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 base is next to Rogers Dry Lake, an endorheic desert salt pan whose hard dry lake surface provides a natural extension to Edwards' runways.
• 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 first major aerial activity occurred at Muroc in 1937 when the entire Army Air Corps participated in a large-scale maneuver.
• 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.
• Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation in southern California, located approximately 22 miles northeast of Lancaster.
• 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.
• A major reason for the growth of Edwards AFB was the nearness of West Coast aircraft manufacturers.

Facts about Jiayuguan Airport (JGN):

• Jiayuguan Airport (JGN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Jiayuguan Airport (JGN) is Pupelde Airfield (ZUD), which is nearly antipodal to Jiayuguan Airport (meaning Jiayuguan Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Pupelde Airfield), and is located 12,003 miles (19,316 kilometers) away in Ancud, Los Lagos Region, Chile.
• Because of Jiayuguan Airport's high elevation of 5,112 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at JGN. Combined with a high temperature, this could make JGN a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Jiayuguan Airport (JGN) is Zhangye Ganzhou Airport (YZY), which is located 144 miles (232 kilometers) ESE of JGN.
• In addition to being known as "Jiayuguan Airport", other names for JGN include "嘉峪关机场" and "Jiāyùguān Jīchǎng".