Nonstop flight route between Knob Noster, Missouri, United States and Osaka, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Whiteman Air Force Base (SZL), Knob Noster, Missouri, United States and Kansai International Airport (KIX), Osaka, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,496 miles (or 10,455 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 Whiteman Air Force Base and Kansai International 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 Whiteman Air Force Base and Kansai International 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 Whiteman Air Force Base (SZL):

• Whiteman initially employed the Minuteman I weapons system until the mid-1960s, when a force modernization program converted the Minuteman I to the Minuteman II.
• The closest airport to Whiteman Air Force Base (SZL) is Sedalia Regional Airport (DMO), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) E of SZL.
• In addition to being known as "Whiteman Air Force Base", another name for SZL is "Whiteman AFB".
• The furthest airport from Whiteman Air Force Base (SZL) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,815 miles (17,405 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Missouri Army National Guard 1st Battalion 135th Attack Reconnaissance Brigade, AH-64 Apache
• The Air National Guard 131st Bomb Wing and the active-duty 509th Bomb Wing have a unique relationship at Whiteman AFB, in that members of the two units work side-by-side on a daily basis, although the majority of the 131st Bomb Wing visits Whiteman only one weekend per month for drill.
• In November 1942, the installation became Sedalia Army Air Field and was assigned to the I Troop Carrier Command of the Army Air Force.

Facts about Kansai International Airport (KIX):

• Construction started in 1987.
• The island had been predicted to sink 5.7 m by the most optimistic estimate as the weight of the material used for construction compressed the seabed silts.
• The furthest airport from Kansai International Airport (KIX) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,980 miles (19,279 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• Terminal 2 is a low-cost carrier terminal designed to attract more LCCs by providing lower landing fees than terminal 1.
• Because of Kansai International Airport's relatively low elevation of 17 feet, planes can take off or land at Kansai International 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 airport had been deeply in debt, losing $560 million in interest every year.
• Since July 2008, Osaka Prefecture governor Toru Hashimoto has been a vocal critic of Itami Airport, arguing that the Chuo Shinkansen maglev line will make much of its domestic role irrelevant, and that its domestic functions should be transferred to Kansai Airport in conjunction with upgraded high-speed access to Kansai from central Osaka.
• Initially, the airport was planned to be built near Kobe, but the city of Kobe refused the plan, so the airport was moved to a more southerly location on Osaka Bay.
• Kansai International Airport (KIX) has 2 runways.
• Kansai has been marketed as an alternative to Narita Airport for international travelers from the Greater Tokyo Area.
• The closest airport to Kansai International Airport (KIX) is Kobe Airport (UKB), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) N of KIX.
• In addition to being known as "Kansai International Airport", other names for KIX include "関西国際空港" and "Kansai Kokusai Kūkō".