Nonstop flight route between Idiofa, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Edwards, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Idiofa Airport (IDF), Idiofa, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Edwards Air Force Base (EDW), Edwards, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,030 miles (or 14,533 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 Idiofa 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 Idiofa 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 Idiofa Airport (IDF):

• The closest airport to Idiofa Airport (IDF) is Kikwit Airport (KKW), which is located 56 miles (90 kilometers) W of IDF.
• The furthest airport from Idiofa Airport (IDF) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is nearly antipodal to Idiofa Airport (meaning Idiofa Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cassidy International Airport), and is located 12,141 miles (19,539 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.

Facts about Edwards Air Force Base (EDW):

• 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.
• 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.
• As with virtually all of the test programs conducted during the war years, most of the actual flight test work on the P-59 was conducted by the contractor.
• In the spring of 1942, however, the immense volume of flight test already being conducted at Wright Field, in Ohio, was one of the factors driving a search for a new site where a "Top Secret" airplane could undergo tests.
• A water stop on the Southern Pacific Railroad since 1876, the site was largely unsettled until the early 20th century.
• 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.
• A major reason for the growth of Edwards AFB was the nearness of West Coast aircraft manufacturers.
• The P-59s were tested at Muroc from October 1942 through February 1944 without a single accident and, though the aircraft did not prove to be combat worthy, the successful conduct of its test program, combined with the success of the Lockheed XP-80 program which followed it in early 1944, sealed the future destiny of the remote high desert installation.