Nonstop flight route between Sardeh Band, Afghanistan and Edwards, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sardeh Band Airport (SBF), Sardeh Band, Afghanistan and Edwards Air Force Base (EDW), Edwards, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,704 miles (or 12,398 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 Sardeh Band Airport 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 Sardeh Band Airport 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 Sardeh Band Airport (SBF):

• On 12 June 2002 a Lockheed MC-130H Hercules was participating in a night exfiltration mission to remove U.S.
• Though the airstrip is still evident against the surrounding desert, it has not been maintained since Russian military Forces withdrew from Afghanistan and there are no structures to support it.
• Sardeh Band Airport (SBF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Sardeh Band Airport (SBF) is Ghazni Airport (GZI), which is located only 19 miles (31 kilometers) NW of SBF.
• The furthest airport from Sardeh Band Airport (SBF) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,996 miles (19,306 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• In addition to being known as "Sardeh Band Airport", other names for SBF include "Sardeh Band Airport (Sardeh Band)" and "Band E Sardeh Dam Airport".
• Sardeh Band Airport, also known as Band E Sardeh Dam Airport, is an airport located near the village of Sardeh Band and about 1 kilometre north of the Russian-built dam called Band E Sardeh Dam.
• Because of Sardeh Band Airport's high elevation of 6,971 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at SBF. Combined with a high temperature, this could make SBF a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

Facts about Edwards Air Force Base (EDW):

• Conscious that March Field was located in an area of increasing growth, and with the need for bombing and gunnery ranges for his units, base and 1st Wing commander Lieutenant Colonel Henry H.
• 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.
• With the end of the war, Fourth Air Force relinquished command of Muroc Army Airfield on 16 October 1945 and jurisdiction was transferred to Air Technical Service Command, becoming Air Materiel Command in 1946.
• It is the home of the Air Force Test Center and is the Air Force Materiel Command center of excellence for conducting and supporting research and developmental flight test and evaluation of aerospace systems from concept to combat.
• A water stop on the Southern Pacific Railroad since 1876, the site was largely unsettled until the early 20th century.
• The Main Base is also the home of the Benefield Anechoic Facility, an electromagnetic and radio frequency testing building.
• 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.
• 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.