Nonstop flight route between Minot, North Dakota, United States and Nagasaki, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Minot Air Force Base (MIB), Minot, North Dakota, United States and Nagasaki Airport (NGS), Nagasaki, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,989 miles (or 9,638 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 Minot Air Force Base and Nagasaki Airport, 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 Minot Air Force Base and Nagasaki Airport. 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 Minot Air Force Base (MIB):

• Under standard procedure, the four-officer crew of the facility is supposed to keep the component secure until it is returned to the base.
• The closest airport to Minot Air Force Base (MIB) is Minot International Airport (MOT), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) SSE of MIB.
• The 4th Post Attack Command & Control Squadron at Ellsworth AFB, SD maintained several EC-135 "Looking Glass" Aircraft on an alert at MAFB for coverage of the missile squadrons as a secondary Launch Control Center.
• In addition to being known as "Minot Air Force Base", another name for MIB is "Minot AFB".
• On 1 February 1963, SAC, as part of a conversion to unit designations with historical significance, activated the 450th Bombardment Wing at Minot and the 720th Bombardment Squadron, along with the formation of the 450th Airborne Missile Maintenance Squadron, 450th Armament & Electronics Maintenance Squadron, 450th Field Maintenance Squadron, and the 450th Organizational Maintenance Squadron simultaneously.
• Originally opened in 1957 as an Air Defense Command base, Minot AFB became a major Strategic Air Command base in the early 1960s, with both nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles and manned bombers and aerial refueling aircraft.
• In 1961, the Air Force selected the land around Minot for a new Minuteman I ICBM complex.
• The furthest airport from Minot Air Force Base (MIB) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,320 miles (16,609 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Strategic Air Command initially had units assigned to Minot AFB in 1958 for air refueling support.

Facts about Nagasaki Airport (NGS):

• The furthest airport from Nagasaki Airport (NGS) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Nagasaki Airport (meaning Nagasaki Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,303 miles (19,799 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Nagasaki Airport (NGS) is Saga Airport (HSG), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) NE of NGS.
• Nagasaki Airport (NGS) has 2 runways.
• The current island runway and terminal opened on May 1, 1975.
• The airport terminal and runway 14/32 are on an island, and the shorter runway 18/36 is on the mainland.
• In addition to being known as "Nagasaki Airport", other names for NGS include "長崎空港" and "Nagasaki Kūkō".
• Because of Nagasaki Airport's relatively low elevation of 8 feet, planes can take off or land at Nagasaki 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.