Nonstop flight route between Hachinohe, Honshū, Japan and Palmdale, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base (HHE), Hachinohe, Honshū, Japan and Palmdale Regional Airport (PMD), Palmdale, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,193 miles (or 8,358 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 JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base and Palmdale 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 JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base and Palmdale 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 JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base (HHE):

• In addition to being known as "JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base", other names for HHE include "八戸航空基地" and "Hachinohe Koku-kichi".
• Because of JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base's relatively low elevation of 152 feet, planes can take off or land at JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base 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.
• JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base is a military aerodrome of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
• JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base (HHE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base (HHE) is Misawa Air Base 三沢飛行場 Misawa Hikōjō (MSJ), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) NNW of HHE.
• In 1963, American authorities banned civilian air traffic to Misawa Air Base, citing safety and security reasons, and commercial air operations were transferred to Hachinohe.
• The furthest airport from JMSDF Hachinohe Air Base (HHE) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,480 miles (18,476 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.

Facts about Palmdale Regional Airport (PMD):

• Palmdale Regional Airport (PMD) has 3 runways.
• Palmdale Army Airfield was declared a surplus facility in 1946 and was purchased by Los Angeles County for use as a municipal airport.
• After several airlines were unable to sustain operations at Palmdale, the terminal was remodeled and reopened in May 2007.
• In January 2007 subsidies valued at $4.6 million, with $2 million slated to underwrite losses incurred from providing airline service, were raised to restore commercial service to the airport.
• Both the Air Force and its aircraft contractors needed a location away from major population centers - due to sonic booms, other noises and security concerns - but close enough to the major centers of aircraft design and production, while having excellent flying weather the year around.
• The origins of Palmdale Regional Airport go to the early 1930s, when a small airstrip was built in the desert.
• PMD and Plant 42 are separate facilities that share a common runway at the site.
• On February 1, 1991, USAir Flight 1493, a Boeing 737 landing on Runway 24L at LAX, collided upon touchdown with a SkyWest Airlines Fairchild Metroliner, Flight 5569 departing to Palmdale Regional Airport, that had been holding in position on the same runway.
• The closest airport to Palmdale Regional Airport (PMD) is General Wm. J. Fox Airfield (WJF), which is located only 11 miles (17 kilometers) NW of PMD.
• The furthest airport from Palmdale Regional Airport (PMD) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,436 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• In 1940, Palmdale Army Airfield was activated as a United States Army Air Corps airfield for use as an emergency landing strip and for B-25 Mitchell medium bomber support training during World War II.