Nonstop flight route between Yakushima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan and Edwards, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Yakushima Airport (KUM), Yakushima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan and Edwards Air Force Base (EDW), Edwards, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,097 miles (or 9,812 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 Yakushima 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 Yakushima 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 Yakushima Airport (KUM):

• The furthest airport from Yakushima Airport (KUM) is Salgado Filho International Airport (POA), which is nearly antipodal to Yakushima Airport (meaning Yakushima Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salgado Filho International Airport), and is located 12,324 miles (19,834 kilometers) away in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
• In addition to being known as "Yakushima Airport", other names for KUM include "屋久島空港" and "Yakushima Kūkō".
• Yakushima Airport (KUM) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Yakushima Airport (KUM) is Kagoshima Airport (KOJ), which is located 98 miles (158 kilometers) N of KUM.
• Because of Yakushima Airport's relatively low elevation of 122 feet, planes can take off or land at Yakushima 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.

Facts about Edwards Air Force Base (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.
• Aircraft testing continued at this desert "Army Air Base", then on 8 November 1943, the base title was changed to "Muroc Army Air Field, Muroc".
• The North Base is located at the north-west corner of Rogers Lake and is the site of the Air Force's most secret test programs at Edwards.
• A water stop on the Southern Pacific Railroad since 1876, the site was largely unsettled until the early 20th century.
• Edwards is also home to several other units from DOD, Air Force, Army, Navy, FAA, USPS and many companies that support the primary mission or the personnel stationed there.
• In December 1949, Muroc was renamed Edwards Air Force Base in honor of Captain Glen Edwards, who was killed a year earlier in the crash of the Northrop YB-49 Flying Wing.
• Conscious that March Field was located in an area of increasing growth, and with the need for bombing and gunnery ranges for his units, base and 1st Wing commander Lieutenant Colonel Henry H.
• On the afternoon of 7 December 1941, the 41st Bombardment Group and the 6th Reconnaissance Squadron moved to Muroc from Davis-Monthan Army Airfield, Arizona with a collection of B-18 Bolos, an A-29 Hudson and B-25 Mitchells.
• 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.
• In July 1942, Muroc Army Airfield became a separate airfield from March Field and was placed under the jurisdiction of Fourth Air Force.
• 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.