Nonstop flight route between Edwards, California, United States and Ta'if, Saudi Arabia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Edwards Air Force Base (EDW), Edwards, California, United States and Ta'if Regional Airport (TIF), Ta'if, Saudi Arabia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,292 miles (or 13,344 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 Ta'if Regional 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 Ta'if Regional 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):

• As a military airbase, civilian access is severely restricted, but is possible with prior coordination and good reason.
• The first major aerial activity occurred at Muroc in 1937 when the entire Army Air Corps participated in a large-scale maneuver.
• The North Base is located at the north-west corner of Rogers Lake and is the site of the Air Force's most secret test programs at Edwards.
• Jurisdiction of Edwards AFB was transferred from Air Materiel Command on 2 April 1951 to the newly created Air Research and Development Command.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 Main Base is also the home of the Benefield Anechoic Facility, an electromagnetic and radio frequency testing building.

Facts about Ta'if Regional Airport (TIF):

• The closest airport to Ta'if Regional Airport (TIF) is King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED), which is located 90 miles (145 kilometers) W of TIF.
• Because of Ta'if Regional Airport's high elevation of 4,848 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at TIF. Combined with a high temperature, this could make TIF a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Ta'if Regional Airport (TIF) is Tureira Airport (ZTA), which is nearly antipodal to Ta'if Regional Airport (meaning Ta'if Regional Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tureira Airport), and is located 12,361 miles (19,893 kilometers) away in Tureia, Tuamotus, French Polynesia.
• Ta'if Regional Airport (TIF) has 2 runways.