Nonstop flight route between Nelson, New Zealand and Edwards, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū (NSN), Nelson, New Zealand and Edwards Air Force Base (EDW), Edwards, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,838 miles (or 11,004 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 Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū 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 Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū 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 Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū (NSN):

• The closest airport to Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū (NSN) is Motueka Aerodrome (MZP), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) NW of NSN.
• Because of Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū's relatively low elevation of 17 feet, planes can take off or land at Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū 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.
• Nelson Airport ) is an airport in Nelson, New Zealand.
• Nelson airport is the home base of Air Nelson operating under the Air NZ Link banner, which operates a fleet of Bombardier Dash 8 Q300s on national air routes.
• Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū (NSN) has 4 runways.
• Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū handled 776,448 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū (NSN) is Bragança Airport (BGC), which is nearly antipodal to Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū (meaning Nelson AirportTe Papa Waka Rererangi o Whakatū is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Bragança Airport), and is located 12,398 miles (19,953 kilometers) away in Bragança, Portugal.
• In 2014, Nelson City Council deemed the main terminal of Nelson Airport a earthquake risk and at fault of possible liquefaction.

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.
• Its curriculum focused on the traditional field of performance testing and the relatively new field of stability and control, which had suddenly assumed critical importance with the dramatic increases in speed offered by the new turbojets.
• 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 base is next to Rogers Dry Lake, an endorheic desert salt pan whose hard dry lake surface provides a natural extension to Edwards' runways.
• The base has played a significant role in the development of virtually every aircraft to enter the Air Force inventory since World War II.
• 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.
• 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.
• The first major aerial activity occurred at Muroc in 1937 when the entire Army Air Corps participated in a large-scale maneuver.
• As a military airbase, civilian access is severely restricted, but is possible with prior coordination and good reason.
• There are a vast array of organizations at Edwards that do not fall under the 412th Test Wing.
• The Main Base is also the home of the Benefield Anechoic Facility, an electromagnetic and radio frequency testing building.