Nonstop flight route between Mitchell, South Dakota, United States and Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mitchell Municipal Airport (MHE), Mitchell, South Dakota, United States and Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,561 miles (or 8,950 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 Mitchell Municipal Airport and Wake Island Airfield, 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 Mitchell Municipal Airport and Wake Island Airfield. 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 Mitchell Municipal Airport (MHE):

• The closest airport to Mitchell Municipal Airport (MHE) is Huron Regional Airport (HON), which is located 43 miles (70 kilometers) NNW of MHE.
• The furthest airport from Mitchell Municipal Airport (MHE) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,544 miles (16,968 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Mitchell Municipal Airport (MHE) has 2 runways.
• From July to late September, 1943, the 700th Bomb Squadron of the 445th Bomb Group conducted their advanced training at Mitchell Army Air Field.
• In addition to being known as "Mitchell Municipal Airport", another name for MHE is "Mitchell Army Airfield".

Facts about Wake Island Airfield (AWK):

• The closest airport to Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ), which is located 169 miles (272 kilometers) SE of AWK.
• The first intention to build an air base surfaced in 1935, when Pan American World Airways selected Wake Island as an intermediate support base for their routes to the Far East, especially the Philippines.
• Between 5 and 29 May 1935, Pan American's air base construction vessel, North Haven, landed supplies and equipment on Wilkes Island for eventual rehandling to Peale Island which, because of its more suitable soil and geology, had been selected as site for the PAA seaplane base.
• From 1935 until 1940, when two typhoons swept Wake with resultant extensive damage to the now elaborately developed Pan American facilities, development and use of the base were steady but uneventful.
• Wake Island Airfield (AWK) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Wake Island Airfield's relatively low elevation of 23 feet, planes can take off or land at Wake Island Airfield 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.
• Japan Airlines used both Wake Island and Honolulu as stops on its initial Tokyo-San Francisco service using Douglas DC-6s in the mid-1950s.
• The furthest airport from Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is RAF Ascension (ASI), which is located 11,652 miles (18,752 kilometers) away in Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena.