Nonstop flight route between Düne, Helgoland, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany and Edwards, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Heligoland Airport (HGL), Düne, Helgoland, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany and Edwards Air Force Base (EDW), Edwards, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,489 miles (or 8,833 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 Heligoland Airport and Edwards Air Force Base, 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 Heligoland Airport and Edwards Air Force Base. 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 Heligoland Airport (HGL):

• Heligoland Airport (HGL) has 3 runways.
• A ferryboat service connects Düne to the Heligoland main island.
• Because of Heligoland Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Heligoland 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 Heligoland Airport (HGL) is Wangerooge Airport (AGE), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) S of HGL.
• In addition to being known as "Heligoland Airport", another name for HGL is "Flughafen Helgoland-Düne".
• The furthest airport from Heligoland Airport (HGL) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,693 miles (18,819 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The first military airfield on Düne existed during World War II when Heligoland had been fortified.

Facts about Edwards Air Force Base (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.
• The first major aerial activity occurred at Muroc in 1937 when the entire Army Air Corps participated in a large-scale maneuver.
• The initial use for Muroc was IV Bomber Command Operational Unit training.
• The Main Base is also the home of the Benefield Anechoic Facility, an electromagnetic and radio frequency testing building.
• 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.
• 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.
• The success of these programs attracted a new type of research activity to the base in late 1946.
• 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.