Nonstop flight route between Rifle, Colorado, United States and Okinawa Prefecture, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Garfield County Regional Airport (RIL), Rifle, Colorado, United States and Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA), Okinawa Prefecture, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,651 miles (or 10,703 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 Garfield County Regional Airport and Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō, 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 Garfield County Regional Airport and Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō. 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 Garfield County Regional Airport (RIL):

• Because of Garfield County Regional Airport's high elevation of 5,548 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at RIL. Combined with a high temperature, this could make RIL a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Garfield County Regional Airport (RIL) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,972 miles (17,657 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Garfield County Regional Airport (RIL) is Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) E of RIL.
• Garfield County Regional Airport (RIL) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA):

• The 18th Wing is the host unit at Kadena AB.
• The furthest airport from Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA) is Paulo Abdala Airport (FBE), which is nearly antipodal to Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (meaning Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Paulo Abdala Airport), and is located 12,381 miles (19,926 kilometers) away in Francisco Beltrao, Paraná, Brazil.
• In addition to being known as "Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō", another name for DNA is "Kadena AFB".
• In 1972, the 1st Special Operations Squadron was assigned, bringing their specialized Lockheed C/MC-130 Hercules aircraft to the wing.
• The closest airport to Kadena Air Base 嘉手納飛行場 Kadena Hikōjō (DNA) is Naha Airport (OKA), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) SW of DNA.
• What the Americans captured was a 4,600 feet strip of badly-damaged coral runway.
• On 7 June 1946, Headquarters Eighth Air Force moved without personnel or equipment to MacDill AAF, Florida.
• At the end of the Eisenhower presidency, around 1,700 nuclear weapons were deployed on shore in the Pacific, 800 of which were at Kadena Air Base.