Nonstop flight route between High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom and Shemya, Alaska, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from HYC to SYA:
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- About this route
- HYC Airport Information
- SYA Airport Information
- Facts about HYC
- Facts about SYA
- Map of Nearest Airports to HYC
- List of Nearest Airports to HYC
- Map of Furthest Airports from HYC
- List of Furthest Airports from HYC
- Map of Nearest Airports to SYA
- List of Nearest Airports to SYA
- Map of Furthest Airports from SYA
- List of Furthest Airports from SYA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between RAF High Wycombe (HYC), High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,218 miles (or 8,397 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 RAF High Wycombe 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 RAF High Wycombe and Eareckson Air Station. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | HYC / EGUH |
Airport Name: | RAF High Wycombe |
Location: | High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°40'53"N by 0°48'6"W |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from HYC |
More Information: | HYC Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SYA / PASY |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Shemya, Alaska, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 52°42'43"N by 174°6'48"E |
Operator/Owner: | U.S. Air Force |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 97 feet (30 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from SYA |
More Information: | SYA Maps & Info |
Facts about RAF High Wycombe (HYC):
- 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.
- Since 2009, the station has been responsible for reviewing UFO sightings as part of efforts to identify any possible unauthorised military incursions into UK airspace.
- The closest airport to RAF High Wycombe (HYC) is RAF Benson (BEX), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) WSW of HYC.
- To preserve secrecy, the station was known as "Southdown" in March 1940, as part of a directive by the Air Ministry.
- 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 station crest, incorporating a thunderbolt and two pillars to symbolise the support the station gave to Bomber Command, was approved on 23 November 1966.
Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):
- In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and " ".
- The limited resources assigned to the Eleventh Air Force meant only a limited number of missions could be carried out over the Kuriles.
- In August, after the Soviet Union declared war against the Japanese Empire, B-24s were dispatched on reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering missions to observe the Russian activity in the Kuriles.
- On 28 May 1943, a small detachment of Alaskan Scouts began reconnaissance of Shemya, a small, flat, uninhabited island 35 miles to the east of Attu.
- It also became a Strategic Air Command refueling site for B-52 Stratofortress bombers and KC-135 tankers as part of Operation Chrome Dome.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 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.
- 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 spring of 1944 brought improving weather and the B-24s and PV-1s to fly more missions over the Kuriles.