Nonstop flight route between High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom and Emirau, Papua New Guinea:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF High Wycombe (HYC), High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom and Emirau Airport (EMI), Emirau, Papua New Guinea would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,588 miles (or 13,820 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 RAF High Wycombe and Emirau 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 RAF High Wycombe and Emirau 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 RAF High Wycombe (HYC):

• To preserve secrecy, the station was known as "Southdown" in March 1940, as part of a directive by the Air Ministry.
• The furthest airport from RAF High Wycombe (HYC) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,867 miles (19,098 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• RAF High Wycombe is situated roughly three miles from the town of High Wycombe over three sites - No 1 Site houses the Command HQ and the Combined Air Operations Centre, No 2 Site houses the officers' mess, while No 3 site is the domestic site, airmen and NCO's quarters, MT yard, PT flight and Supply Flight.
• The station crest, incorporating a thunderbolt and two pillars to symbolise the support the station gave to Bomber Command, was approved on 23 November 1966.
• The site is a non-flying station and was home to RAF Strike Command before it became part of the newly formed RAF Air Command on 1 April 2007.
• The closest airport to RAF High Wycombe (HYC) is RAF Benson (BEX), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) WSW of HYC.
• An Armed Forces Community Covenant between the station and Wycombe District Council was signed on 16 April 2012, designed to strengthen the links between the military and the local community.
• The motto of RAF High Wycombe in Latin is 'Non Sibi', which translates as 'not for ourselves'.

Facts about Emirau Airport (EMI):

• Emirau was seized unopposed by two Battalions of the 4th Marine Division on 20 March 1944.Naval Construction Battalions arrived shortly after the landings and began construction of two coral-surfaced 7,000 feet by 150 feet airfields on the island.
• The closest airport to Emirau Airport (EMI) is Kavieng Airport (KVG), which is located 87 miles (139 kilometers) SE of EMI.
• There was also one Australian unit located on the island - the 474 Heavy Anti-aircraft Troop.
• Emirau Airport (EMI) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Emirau Airport (EMI) is Governador Carlos Wilson Airport (FEN), which is nearly antipodal to Emirau Airport (meaning Emirau Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Governador Carlos Wilson Airport), and is located 12,022 miles (19,348 kilometers) away in Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco, Brazil.
• Because of Emirau Airport's relatively low elevation of 100 feet, planes can take off or land at Emirau 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 runways remain usable.