Nonstop flight route between Spokane, Washington, United States and Point Lay, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA), Spokane, Washington, United States and Point Lay LRRS Airport (PIZ), Point Lay, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,143 miles (or 3,449 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 Fairchild Air Force Base and Point Lay LRRS Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA):

• On 13 March 1987, a KC-135A crashed into a field adjacent to the 92nd Bomb Wing headquarters and the taxiway during a practice flight for an In-Flight Refueling Demonstration planned for later that month.
• The closest airport to Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA) is Spokane International Airport (GEG), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) E of SKA.
• In 1956 the wing began a conversion that brought the B-52 Stratofortress to Fairchild, followed by the KC-135 Stratotanker in 1958.
• The furthest airport from Fairchild Air Force Base (SKA) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,665 miles (17,163 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• To provide air defense of the base, U.S.
• With the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, both groups deployed to Japan and Guam.
• In late 1974, the Air Force announced plans to convert the 141st Fighter Interceptor Group of the Washington Air National Guard, an F-101 Voodoo unit at Geiger Field, to an air refueling mission with KC-135 aircraft.
• In addition to being known as "Fairchild Air Force Base", another name for SKA is "Fairchild AFB".
• Following the destruction of the World Trade Center, the wing began providing around-the-clock air refueling of Combat Air Patrol fighter aircraft and initiated 24-hour ground alert operations in support of Operation Noble Eagle.
• Fairchild’s location, 12 miles west of Spokane, resulted from a competition with the cities of Seattle and Everett in western Washington.

Facts about Point Lay LRRS Airport (PIZ):

• The LRR site was inactivated in 1989 due to soil erosion & budget concerns.
• Point Lay LRRS Airport is a public and military use airport owned by the United States Government and located in Point Lay, in the North Slope Borough of the U.S.
• Point Lay LRRS Airport (PIZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Point Lay LRRS Airport (PIZ) is Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Airport (TNM), which is located 10,387 miles (16,716 kilometers) away in Villa Las Estrellas, Antarctica.
• Because of Point Lay LRRS Airport's relatively low elevation of 25 feet, planes can take off or land at Point Lay LRRS 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 Point Lay LRRS Airport (PIZ) is Wainwright Airport (AIN), which is located 94 miles (152 kilometers) NE of PIZ.
• The airport was built in 1957 to support the Distant Early Warning Line Radar station at Point Lay.
• Point Lay LRRS Airport has one runway designated 5/23 with a gravel surface measuring 3,519 by 80 feet.