Nonstop flight route between Shemya, Alaska, United States and Leadville, Colorado, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States and Lake County Airport (LXV), Leadville, Colorado, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,730 miles (or 6,003 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 Eareckson Air Station and Lake County 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 Eareckson Air Station and Lake County 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 Eareckson Air Station (SYA):

• In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and "  ".
• The furthest airport from Eareckson Air Station (SYA) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,668 miles (17,168 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
• On 28 May 1943, a small detachment of Alaskan Scouts began reconnaissance of Shemya, a small, flat, uninhabited island 35 miles to the east of Attu.
• Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Eareckson Air Station (SYA) is Casco Cove Coast Guard Station (ATU), which is located 40 miles (65 kilometers) WNW of SYA.
• The spring of 1944 brought improving weather and the B-24s and PV-1s to fly more missions over the Kuriles.
• A second attack by B-24 Liberators was launched from Alexai Point and Shemya on 18 July.
• Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
• The station was also used by SAC Cobra Ball and other related projects which monitored missile-associated signals and tracks missiles during boost and re-entry phases to provide reconnaissance for treaty verification and theater ballistic missile proliferation.
• Because of Eareckson Air Station's relatively low elevation of 97 feet, planes can take off or land at Eareckson Air Station 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.
• After the disastrous attack, the focus of Eleventh Air Force was shifted to a defensive posture in the event of retaliatory attacks from the Japanese.

Facts about Lake County Airport (LXV):

• Because of Lake County Airport's high elevation of 9,927 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at LXV. Combined with a high temperature, this could make LXV a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Lake County Airport (LXV) is Aspen–Pitkin County Airport (ASE), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) W of LXV.
• In addition to being known as "Lake County Airport", another name for LXV is "Leadville Airport".
• At one point, the airport had scheduled passenger airline service.
• At an elevation of 9,927 ft above mean sea level the airport claims the distinction of being North America's highest.
• Lake County Airport (LXV) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Lake County Airport (LXV) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,958 miles (17,635 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.