Nonstop flight route between Ironwood, Michigan, United States and Anchorage, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gogebic-Iron County Airport (IWD), Ironwood, Michigan, United States and Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), Anchorage, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,525 miles (or 4,064 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 Gogebic-Iron County Airport and Elmendorf 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 Gogebic-Iron County Airport and Elmendorf 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 Gogebic-Iron County Airport (IWD):

• The airport has not had scheduled commercial airline service since January 31, 2014, when Great Lakes Airlines discontinued its service to Minneapolis/St.
• Gogebic-Iron County Airport (IWD) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Gogebic-Iron County Airport (IWD) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,857 miles (17,473 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Gogebic-Iron County Airport (IWD) is John F. Kennedy Memorial Airport (ASX), which is located 37 miles (60 kilometers) W of IWD.
• As per the Federal Aviation Administration, this airport had 1,524 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 1,092 in 2009, and 944 in 2010.
• Frontier Express provided service to Rhinelander, continuing on to Milwaukee until March 8, 2012.

Facts about Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF):

• The Elmendorf AFB is a site of one of the now decommissioned FLR-9 Wullenweber-class antennas, a node of the now obsolete High Frequency SIGINT direction finding system.
• On 28 July 2010, a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft practicing for an upcoming airshow crashed into a wooded area within the base, killing all four air crew members.
• The closest airport to Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF) is Merrill Field (MRI), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) SSW of EDF.
• The Department of Defense proposed a major realignment of the base as part of the Base Realignment and Closure program announced on 13 May 2005.
• The furthest airport from Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,542 miles (16,965 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• Construction on Elmendorf Field began on 8 June 1940, as a major and permanent military airfield near Anchorage.
• The first Air Force unit to be assigned to Alaska, the 18th Pursuit Squadron, arrived in February 1941.
• In addition to being known as "Elmendorf Air Force Base", another name for EDF is "JB Elmendorf-Richardson".
• The uncertain world situation in late 1940s and early 1950s caused a major buildup of air defense forces in Alaska.