Nonstop flight route between Edwards, California, United States and Joroinen, Finland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Edwards Air Force Base (EDW), Edwards, California, United States and Varkaus Airport (VRK), Joroinen, Finland would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,463 miles (or 8,792 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 Varkaus 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 Varkaus 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):

• With the end of the war, Fourth Air Force relinquished command of Muroc Army Airfield on 16 October 1945 and jurisdiction was transferred to Air Technical Service Command, becoming Air Materiel Command in 1946.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Varkaus Airport (VRK):

• Varkaus Airport (VRK) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Varkaus Airport", another name for VRK is "Varkauden lentoasema".
• The furthest airport from Varkaus Airport (VRK) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,834 miles (17,436 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Varkaus Airport's relatively low elevation of 286 feet, planes can take off or land at Varkaus 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.
• Varkaus Airport handled 8,057 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Varkaus Airport (VRK) is Mikkeli Airport (MIK), which is located 40 miles (64 kilometers) SSW of VRK.