Nonstop flight route between Wellsville, New York, United States and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wellsville Municipal Airport (ELZ), Wellsville, New York, United States and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,609 miles (or 7,418 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 Wellsville Municipal Airport and Eareckson Air Station, 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 Wellsville Municipal Airport and Eareckson Air Station. 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 Wellsville Municipal Airport (ELZ):

• The single east-west runway is 5302 feet long, however only 4900 feet is available for landing.
• The closest airport to Wellsville Municipal Airport (ELZ) is Cattaraugus County-Olean Airport (OLE), which is located 22 miles (35 kilometers) WNW of ELZ.
• In addition to being known as "Wellsville Municipal Airport", another name for ELZ is "Tarantine Field".
• The original Wellsville airport prior to about 1970 was located several miles north of the present airport's location.
• The furthest airport from Wellsville Municipal Airport (ELZ) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,529 miles (18,554 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Wellsville Municipal Airport (ELZ) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• The news of the surrender of the Japanese was met with enthusiasm, the biggest topic was "When do we go home?".
• The aerial photos taken on the raid showed the Japanese were building up forces in the area, transferring aircraft presumably from air bases on Hokkaido.
• Because of Eareckson Air Station's relatively low elevation of 97 feet, planes can take off or land at Eareckson Air Station 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 furthest airport from Eareckson Air Station (SYA) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,668 miles (17,168 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The 404th Bombardment Squadron flew B-24 Liberator heavy bombers along with one Beechcraft AT-7, which was used for navigator training.
• The station was also used by SAC Cobra Ball and other related projects which monitored missile-associated signals and tracks missiles during boost and re-entry phases to provide reconnaissance for treaty verification and theater ballistic missile proliferation.
• The closest airport to Eareckson Air Station (SYA) is Casco Cove Coast Guard Station (ATU), which is located 40 miles (65 kilometers) WNW of SYA.
• On 28 May 1943, a small detachment of Alaskan Scouts began reconnaissance of Shemya, a small, flat, uninhabited island 35 miles to the east of Attu.
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.