Nonstop flight route between Fort Sill, Oklahoma, United States and Shemya, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Henry Post Army Airfield (FSI), Fort Sill, Oklahoma, United States and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,262 miles (or 6,860 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 Henry Post Army Airfield 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 Henry Post Army Airfield 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 Henry Post Army Airfield (FSI):

• In 1940 the Artillery decided that the Air Corps had outgrown such mundane chores as artillery spotting, and it was decided that it would take care of itself with its own observation aircraft.
• Henry Post Army Airfield (FSI) currently has only 1 runway.
• Henry Post AAF has one runway designated 17/35 with a concrete surface measuring 5,001 by 200 feet.
• The Army will continue to operate and maintain a precision approach radar at Fort Sill's Henry Post Field for the foreseeable future.
• The furthest airport from Henry Post Army Airfield (FSI) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,920 miles (17,575 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Although the Signal corps had been supplying Observation aircraft for the United States Army Field Artillery School since 1915.
• The closest airport to Henry Post Army Airfield (FSI) is Lawton–Fort Sill Regional Airport (LAW), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) S of FSI.
• The field was named in honor of pioneer aviator 2d Lieutenant Henry Post.
• Post Field served as a base for flight training for the Air Service.

Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• 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 closest airport to Eareckson Air Station (SYA) is Casco Cove Coast Guard Station (ATU), which is located 40 miles (65 kilometers) WNW of SYA.
• 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 "  ".
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
• With the successful completion of the Aleutian Campaign in August 1943, Eleventh Air Force came within striking distance of the Japanese Kurile Islands, the northernmost being 750 miles to the south-southwest of Shemya.
• The base host squadron was re-designated the 5073rd Air Base Squadron on October 1962, and upgraded to a group on 15 October 1974 in recognition of the number and complexities of the tenant units it supported.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• By the end of 1944, several hundred American airmen had been interned by the Russians after their crippled aircraft landed on Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula.