Nonstop flight route between Edwards, California, United States and Yamagata, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Edwards Air Force Base (EDW), Edwards, California, United States and Shonai Airport (SYO), Yamagata, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,331 miles (or 8,580 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 Shonai 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 Shonai 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 P-59s were tested at Muroc from October 1942 through February 1944 without a single accident and, though the aircraft did not prove to be combat worthy, the successful conduct of its test program, combined with the success of the Lockheed XP-80 program which followed it in early 1944, sealed the future destiny of the remote high desert installation.
• The initial use for Muroc was IV Bomber Command Operational Unit training.
• 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.
• 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.
• That same year, the U.S.
• 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.
• 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.
• As a military airbase, civilian access is severely restricted, but is possible with prior coordination and good reason.
• 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.
• A water stop on the Southern Pacific Railroad since 1876, the site was largely unsettled until the early 20th century.

Facts about Shonai Airport (SYO):

• Shonai Airport (SYO) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Shonai Airport", other names for SYO include "庄内空港" and "Shonai Kūkō".
• The furthest airport from Shonai Airport (SYO) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,620 miles (18,701 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• Because of Shonai Airport's relatively low elevation of 72 feet, planes can take off or land at Shonai 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.
• The closest airport to Shonai Airport (SYO) is Yamagata Airport (GAJ), which is located 42 miles (67 kilometers) SE of SYO.
• Shonai Airport is a regional airport in Sakata, Yamagata, Japan.
• In December 2012, an ANA flight landing from Tokyo overran the runway at Shonai.