Nonstop flight route between Sheldon Point, Alaska, United States and Tonopah, Nevada, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sheldon Point Airport (SXP), Sheldon Point, Alaska, United States and Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD), Tonopah, Nevada, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,630 miles (or 4,232 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 Sheldon Point Airport and Tonopah Test Range Airport, 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 Sheldon Point Airport and Tonopah Test Range Airport. 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 Sheldon Point Airport (SXP):

• In addition to being known as "Sheldon Point Airport", another name for SXP is "none".
• Because of Sheldon Point Airport's relatively low elevation of 12 feet, planes can take off or land at Sheldon Point 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.
• Sheldon Point Airport (SXP) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Sheldon Point Airport (SXP) is Alakanuk Airport (AUK), which is located only 13 miles (20 kilometers) NNE of SXP.
• The furthest airport from Sheldon Point Airport (SXP) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,458 miles (16,831 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.

Facts about Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD):

• Tonopah is owned by the USAF Air Combat Command.
• None of the Soviet-designed aircraft at Tonopah flew in bad weather or at night.
• Foreign military sales of United States fighter aircraft to Indonesia and Egypt in the mid-1970s to replace the Soviet fighter aircraft allowed these nations to clandestinely transfer un-needed MiG-21 ultra modern MiG-23s aircraft to the United States for evaluation.
• Tonopah Test Range Airport, at the Tonopah Test Range is 27 NM southeast of Tonopah, Nevada and 140 mi northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada.
• In May 1973, when Project HAVE IDEA was initiated for joint technical and tactical evaluation of Soviet aircraft types, the tactical evaluation flights of foreign aircraft were undertaken by Detachment 1, 57th Fighter Weapons Wing.
• The furthest airport from Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,207 miles (18,036 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• Beginning in October 1979 Tonopah Test Range Airport was reconstructed and expanded.
• The closest airport to Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD) is Tonopah Airport (TPH), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) NW of XSD.
• The assets of the squadron could not go to the boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB, and the fate of them remains in some cases, still classified.
• In July 1975, the 4477th Tactical Evaluation Flight was formed at Nellis AFB as tactical evaluation organization.