Nonstop flight route between Riverton, Wyoming, United States and Shearwater, Nova Scotia, Canada:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from RIW to YAW:
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- About this route
- RIW Airport Information
- YAW Airport Information
- Facts about RIW
- Facts about YAW
- Map of Nearest Airports to RIW
- List of Nearest Airports to RIW
- Map of Furthest Airports from RIW
- List of Furthest Airports from RIW
- Map of Nearest Airports to YAW
- List of Nearest Airports to YAW
- Map of Furthest Airports from YAW
- List of Furthest Airports from YAW
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Riverton Regional Airport (RIW), Riverton, Wyoming, United States and Shearwater Heliport (YAW), Shearwater, Nova Scotia, Canada would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,214 miles (or 3,563 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 Riverton Regional Airport and Shearwater Heliport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | RIW / KRIW |
| Airport Name: | Riverton Regional Airport |
| Location: | Riverton, Wyoming, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 43°3'51"N by 108°27'34"W |
| Area Served: | Riverton, Wyoming |
| Operator/Owner: | City of Riverton |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 5528 feet (1,685 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from RIW |
| More Information: | RIW Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | YAW / CYAW |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Shearwater, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| GPS Coordinates: | 44°38'13"N by 63°30'7"W |
| Operator/Owner: | Government of Canada |
| Airport Type: | Military |
| Elevation: | 144 feet (44 meters) |
| View all routes: | Routes from YAW |
| More Information: | YAW Maps & Info |
Facts about Riverton Regional Airport (RIW):
- The closest airport to Riverton Regional Airport (RIW) is Hunt Field (LND), which is located 22 miles (35 kilometers) SW of RIW.
- Because of Riverton Regional Airport's high elevation of 5,528 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at RIW. Combined with a high temperature, this could make RIW a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- Riverton Regional Airport (RIW) has 2 runways.
- The furthest airport from Riverton Regional Airport (RIW) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,758 miles (17,313 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
Facts about Shearwater Heliport (YAW):
- The air show moved to Yarmouth Airport in 2009 but returned to Shearwater in 2010, the first time since 2003 that an air show was held at the historic airfield.
- The furthest airport from Shearwater Heliport (YAW) is Albany Airport (ALH), which is located 11,763 miles (18,931 kilometers) away in Albany, Western Australia, Australia.
- The closest airport to Shearwater Heliport (YAW) is Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) N of YAW.
- Shearwater Heliport's primary mission remains as a heliport in support of the Royal Canadian Navy's Maritime Forces Atlantic warships with shipborne helicopters operated by 12 Wing, a unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
- Defence cutbacks and unit and facility realignments from 1994 to 1996 saw CFB Shearwater stand down as a separate formation and the facility merged as an airfield attached to CFB Halifax.
- By the 1980s this air show came to be named the "Shearwater International Air Show" and was a popular event for military aviation enthusiasts in Eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States as the location of CFB Shearwater, coupled with the popularity of the Halifax area among military aircrew, resulted in heavy international participation from the RCAF, as well as the USAF, United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, Royal Air Force and numerous other NATO air forces in Europe.
- In addition to being known as "Shearwater Heliport", other names for YAW include "Halifax/Shearwater Heliport", "12 Wing Shearwater" and "CFB Shearwater".
- Base rationalization and defence budget cutbacks for the Canadian Forces during the mid-1990s saw a largely administrative move when the formation CFB Shearwater stood down and the facilities transferred to the formation CFB Halifax and aircraft operations becoming the responsibility of newly formed 12 Wing.
- The combined land and sea-based aerodromes were used to station carrier-based maritime patrol and fighter aircraft.
- Because of Shearwater Heliport's relatively low elevation of 144 feet, planes can take off or land at Shearwater Heliport 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.
- During the late 1990s and early 2000s the Shearwater airfield was scaled back significantly as the facility transitioned to a heliport with surplus lands identified and transferred to Canada Lands Company.
