Nonstop flight route between Show Low, Arizona, United States and Anchorage, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Show Low Regional Airport (SOW), Show Low, Arizona, United States and Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF), Anchorage, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,554 miles (or 4,110 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 Show Low Regional Airport and Elmendorf 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 Show Low Regional Airport and Elmendorf 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 Show Low Regional Airport (SOW):

• The closest airport to Show Low Regional Airport (SOW) is Taylor Airport (TYZ), which is located only 14 miles (23 kilometers) NNW of SOW.
• As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 5,325 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 4,470 enplanements in 2009, and 3,080 in 2010.
• The furthest airport from Show Low Regional Airport (SOW) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,355 miles (18,274 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Show Low Regional Airport (SOW) has 2 runways.
• Because of Show Low Regional Airport's high elevation of 6,415 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at SOW. Combined with a high temperature, this could make SOW a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

Facts about Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF):

• The Elmendorf AFB is a site of one of the now decommissioned FLR-9 Wullenweber-class antennas, a node of the now obsolete High Frequency SIGINT direction finding system.
• The adjacent facilities were officially combined by the 2005 Base Closure and Realignment Commission.
• The closest airport to Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF) is Merrill Field (MRI), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) SSW of EDF.
• The uncertain world situation in late 1940s and early 1950s caused a major buildup of air defense forces in Alaska.
• Air defense forces reached their zenith in 1957 with almost 200 fighter aircraft assigned to six fighter interceptor squadrons located at Elmendorf AFB and Ladd AFB.
• The furthest airport from Elmendorf Air Force Base (EDF) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,542 miles (16,965 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• Despite a diminished number of personnel and aircraft, a turning point in Elmendorf's history occurred in 1970 with the arrival of the 43d Tactical Fighter Squadron in June 1970 from MacDill AFB, Florida.
• In addition to being known as "Elmendorf Air Force Base", another name for EDF is "JB Elmendorf-Richardson".