Nonstop flight route between Sandakan, Malaysia and Detroit, Michigan, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sandakan Airport (SDK), Sandakan, Malaysia and Willow Run Airport (YIP) (YIP), Detroit, Michigan, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,844 miles (or 14,233 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 Sandakan Airport and Willow Run Airport (YIP), 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 Sandakan Airport and Willow Run Airport (YIP). 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 Sandakan Airport (SDK):

• Sandakan Airport (SDK) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Sandakan Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at Sandakan Airport 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.
• The closest airport to Sandakan Airport (SDK) is Lahad Datu Airport (LDU), which is located 63 miles (101 kilometers) SSE of SDK.
• The furthest airport from Sandakan Airport (SDK) is Coari Airport (CIZ), which is nearly antipodal to Sandakan Airport (meaning Sandakan Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Coari Airport), and is located 12,290 miles (19,779 kilometers) away in Coari, Amazonas, Brazil.
• In addition to being known as "Sandakan Airport", other names for SDK include "Lapangan Terbang Sandakan" and "山打根机场".
• Sandakan Airport handled 911,855 passengers last year.

Facts about Willow Run Airport (YIP) (YIP):

• Willow Run's relative isolation encouraged new approaches to passenger transportation to and from airports.
• Willow Run Airport (YIP) (YIP) has 4 runways.
• By fall 1944 Willow Run had moved from the B-24L to the B-24M, the last Liberator to be built in significant numbers.
• Because of Willow Run Airport (YIP)'s relatively low elevation of 716 feet, planes can take off or land at Willow Run Airport (YIP) 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.
• The furthest airport from Willow Run Airport (YIP) (YIP) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,276 miles (18,147 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Willow Run Airport (YIP) (YIP) is Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) E of YIP.
• The Willow Run bomber plant had many problems at startup, due in part to the mindsets and technical skills of both management and labor, who were each accustomed to the requirements of auto production, finding it difficult at first to adapt to the higher precision required in aircraft production.
• The coming of World War II to Europe and the Fall of France in 1940 alarmed many in the United States, and in spite of an official policy of American neutrality, a number of government officials began preparing for the possibility of United States involvement.
• Today the Yankee Air Museum, in one of the airport hangars, has a large collection of vintage aircraft.