Nonstop flight route between Port Alexander, Alaska, United States and Edwards, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Port Alexander Seaplane Base (PTD), Port Alexander, Alaska, United States and Edwards Air Force Base (EDW), Edwards, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,673 miles (or 2,692 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 relatively short distance between Port Alexander Seaplane Base and Edwards Air Force Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Port Alexander Seaplane Base (PTD):

• Because of Port Alexander Seaplane Base's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Port Alexander Seaplane Base 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.
• Port Alexander Seaplane Base (PTD) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Port Alexander Seaplane Base (PTD) is Point Baker Seaplane Base (KPB), which is located 40 miles (64 kilometers) E of PTD.
• In addition to being known as "Port Alexander Seaplane Base", another name for PTD is "AHP".
• The furthest airport from Port Alexander Seaplane Base (PTD) is Port Alfred Airport (AFD), which is located 10,640 miles (17,123 kilometers) away in Port Alfred, South Africa.

Facts about Edwards Air Force Base (EDW):

• The base has played a significant role in the development of virtually every aircraft to enter the Air Force inventory since World War II.
• The P-59s were tested at Muroc from October 1942 through February 1944 without a single accident and, though the aircraft did not prove to be combat worthy, the successful conduct of its test program, combined with the success of the Lockheed XP-80 program which followed it in early 1944, sealed the future destiny of the remote high desert installation.
• 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 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.
• In the spring of 1942, however, the immense volume of flight test already being conducted at Wright Field, in Ohio, was one of the factors driving a search for a new site where a "Top Secret" airplane could undergo tests.
• With the arrival of the Bell Aircraft P-59 Airacomet jet fighter, the Mojave Desert station was chosen as a secluded site for testing this super-secret airplane.
• The first major aerial activity occurred at Muroc in 1937 when the entire Army Air Corps participated in a large-scale maneuver.
• As with virtually all of the test programs conducted during the war years, most of the actual flight test work on the P-59 was conducted by the contractor.
• In December 1949, Muroc was renamed Edwards Air Force Base in honor of Captain Glen Edwards, who was killed a year earlier in the crash of the Northrop YB-49 Flying Wing.