Nonstop flight route between Hawker, South Australia, Australia and Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from HWK to AWK:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- HWK Airport Information
- AWK Airport Information
- Facts about HWK
- Facts about AWK
- Map of Nearest Airports to HWK
- List of Nearest Airports to HWK
- Map of Furthest Airports from HWK
- List of Furthest Airports from HWK
- Map of Nearest Airports to AWK
- List of Nearest Airports to AWK
- Map of Furthest Airports from AWK
- List of Furthest Airports from AWK
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wilpena Pound (HWK), Hawker, South Australia, Australia and Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,975 miles (or 6,397 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 Wilpena Pound and Wake Island Airfield, 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 Wilpena Pound and Wake Island Airfield. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | HWK / YHAW |
| Airport Name: | Wilpena Pound |
| Location: | Hawker, South Australia, Australia |
| GPS Coordinates: | 31°33'32"S by 138°34'26"E |
| Elevation: | 0 feet (0 meters) |
| View all routes: | Routes from HWK |
| More Information: | HWK Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | AWK / PWAK |
| Airport Name: | Wake Island Airfield |
| Location: | Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands |
| GPS Coordinates: | 19°16'56"N by 166°38'12"E |
| Operator/Owner: | U.S. Air Force |
| Airport Type: | Military |
| Elevation: | 23 feet (7 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from AWK |
| More Information: | AWK Maps & Info |
Facts about Wilpena Pound (HWK):
- The Browne brothers eventually won the claim for Wilpena from Bagot, and the young Henry Strong Price opened up and ran the 40,000-hectare station for them.
- After the immense labour of constructing a road through the torturous Wilpena Gap, they built a small homestead inside the Pound, which still stands today, and cleared some open patches in the thick scrub of the interior.
- Point Bonney was named after the Crown Commissioner of Lands Charles Bonney, while Rawnsley's Bluff is named after the surveyor H.C.
- The peaks are very rugged, and thick scrub and timber inside the pound can make navigation difficult.
- The closest airport to Wilpena Pound (HWK) is Leigh Creek Airport (LGH), which is located 67 miles (108 kilometers) N of HWK.
- The furthest airport from Wilpena Pound (HWK) is Flores Airport (FLW), which is located 11,642 miles (18,736 kilometers) away in Flores Island, Azores, Portugal.
- Because of Wilpena Pound's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Wilpena Pound 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 wall of mountains almost completely encircles the gently-sloping interior of the Pound, with the only breaks being the gorge at Wilpena Gap and a high saddle in the south-western range over which the Heysen Trail passes.
Facts about Wake Island Airfield (AWK):
- The furthest airport from Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is RAF Ascension (ASI), which is located 11,652 miles (18,752 kilometers) away in Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena.
- The closest airport to Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ), which is located 169 miles (272 kilometers) SE of AWK.
- British Overseas Airways Corporation also used Wake Island as a refueling stop.
- On 26 December 1940, implementing the Hepburn Board's recommendations, a pioneer party of 80 men and 2,000 short tons of equipment sailed for Wake Island from Oahu.
- Because of Wake Island Airfield's relatively low elevation of 23 feet, planes can take off or land at Wake Island Airfield 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.
- Wake Island Airfield (AWK) currently has only 1 runway.
