Nonstop flight route between Melfi, Chad and Shearwater, Nova Scotia, Canada:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Melfi Airport (MEF), Melfi, Chad and Shearwater Heliport (YAW), Shearwater, Nova Scotia, Canada would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,265 miles (or 8,473 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 Melfi Airport and Shearwater Heliport, 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 Melfi Airport and Shearwater Heliport. 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 Melfi Airport (MEF):

• In addition to being known as "Melfi Airport", another name for MEF is "Melfi Airport (Melfi)".
• The closest airport to Melfi Airport (MEF) is Mongo Airport (MVO), which is located 92 miles (148 kilometers) NNE of MEF.
• Melfi Airport (MEF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Melfi Airport (MEF) is Manihiki Island Airport (MHX), which is nearly antipodal to Melfi Airport (meaning Melfi Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Manihiki Island Airport), and is located 12,352 miles (19,878 kilometers) away in Manihiki Island, Cook Islands.

Facts about Shearwater Heliport (YAW):

• In addition to being known as "Shearwater Heliport", other names for YAW include "Halifax/Shearwater Heliport", "12 Wing Shearwater" and "CFB Shearwater".
• The furthest airport from Shearwater Heliport (YAW) is Albany Airport (ALH), which is located 11,763 miles (18,931 kilometers) away in Albany, Western Australia, Australia.
• Beginning in the 1970s, CFB Shearwater began hosting an Armed Forces Day every fall, typically on the weekend following Labour Day, and included an air show where the long and wide runways at Shearwater hosted some of the largest aircraft in the world, including the U.S.
• By 2002 only runway 10/28 remained open.
• Defence cutbacks and unit and facility realignments from 1994 to 1996 saw CFB Shearwater stand down as a separate formation and the facility merged as an airfield attached to CFB Halifax.
• 12 Wing's squadrons at Shearwater Heliport in Nova Scotia and at Patricia Bay in British Columbia currently operate the Sikorsky CH-124 Sea King but is expected to re-equip with the Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone commencing in 2012 with the conclusion of the Maritime Helicopter Project.
• The closest airport to Shearwater Heliport (YAW) is Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) N of YAW.
• Because of Shearwater Heliport's relatively low elevation of 144 feet, planes can take off or land at Shearwater Heliport 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 combined land and sea-based aerodromes were used to station carrier-based maritime patrol and fighter aircraft.