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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Whiteman Air Force Base (SZL), Knob Noster, Missouri, United States and Sendai Airport (SDJ), Natori, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,100 miles (or 9,818 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 Sendai 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 Sendai 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):

• The 476th Fighter Group, stationed at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, is an Air Force Reserve Command unit linked to the 23rd Fighter Group at Moody.
• The host unit at Whiteman AFB is the 509th Bomb Wing, assigned to the Eighth Air Force of the Air Force Global Strike Command.
• Whiteman AFB is the only permanent base for the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber.
• The closest airport to Whiteman Air Force Base (SZL) is Sedalia Regional Airport (DMO), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) E of SZL.
• 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.
• In November 1942, the installation became Sedalia Army Air Field and was assigned to the I Troop Carrier Command of the Army Air Force.
• In addition to being known as "Whiteman Air Force Base", another name for SZL is "Whiteman AFB".
• Named in honor of 2d Lieutenant George Allison Whiteman.
• 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.

Facts about Sendai Airport (SDJ):

• The furthest airport from Sendai Airport (SDJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,588 miles (18,650 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• In addition to being known as "Sendai Airport", other names for SDJ include "仙台空港" and "Sendai Kūkō".
• Sendai Airport (SDJ) has 2 runways.
• Beginning 6 April 1990, Asiana Airlines established a route to Seoul to Sendai, thus beginning international service from the airport.
• The airport reopened to limited commercial traffic on 13 April 2011.
• The closest airport to Sendai Airport (SDJ) is Yamagata Airport (GAJ), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) WNW of SDJ.
• The Sendai Airport Line, which connects the airport to Sendai Station, opened on 18 March 2007.
• To reopen the airport, on 16 March 2011 a team from the United States Air Force's 320th Special Tactics Squadron from Kadena Air Base parachuted into Matsushima, Miyagi, then moved overland to the airport.
• In 1940, the Imperial Japanese Army built Sendai Airport in order to use it for the Kumakaya Army Flight School, Masda Branch School Trainee Training Center.
• Because of Sendai Airport's relatively low elevation of 6 feet, planes can take off or land at Sendai 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.