Nonstop flight route between Nanyuki, Kenya and Tonopah, Nevada, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Nanyuki Airfield (NYK), Nanyuki, Kenya and Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD), Tonopah, Nevada, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,343 miles (or 15,036 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 Nanyuki Airfield and Tonopah Test Range 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 Nanyuki Airfield and Tonopah Test Range 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 Nanyuki Airfield (NYK):

• In the late 1960s the Nanyuki Airfield was originally along the Nanyuki – Rumuruti Road.
• Located on the western foot hills of Mount Kenya, it lies only 8 kilometres, south of the Equator.
• Nanyuki Airfield is open from 6 am to 6 pm daily, with all traffic reporting to the Nanyuki air traffic controller.
• The furthest airport from Nanyuki Airfield (NYK) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is located 11,705 miles (18,838 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
• Nanyuki Airfield (NYK) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Nanyuki Airfield's high elevation of 6,250 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at NYK. Combined with a high temperature, this could make NYK a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The new civil airfield for Nanyuki was allocated along the Nanyuki – Naro Moru road about 10 kilometres, out of Nanyuki town, and was named Nanyuki Civil Airfield.
• In addition to being known as "Nanyuki Airfield", another name for NYK is "Nanyuki Airport".
• The closest airport to Nanyuki Airfield (NYK) is Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO), which is located 87 miles (140 kilometers) S of NYK.

Facts about Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD):

• In 1980 the 4477th TEF was re-designated as the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron and the operation was renamed again to Constant Peg.
• The primary access to the facility is off of U.S.
• The furthest airport from Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,207 miles (18,036 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• The closest airport to Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD) is Tonopah Airport (TPH), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) NW of XSD.
• The advent of Operation Rolling Thunder during the Vietnam War in March of 1965 led to the introduction of the obsolete and subsonic MiG-17 and the supersonic MiG-21 by the North Vietnamese Air Force being pitted against U.S.
• What was learned during these projects prompted the US Navy to commence Top Gun exercises first at NAS Miramar, California and then NAS Fallon, Nevada.
• It is known that the USAF continues a Foreign Materiel Acquisition/Exploitation program, although the extent of acquisitions and operations of that program is not available.