Nonstop flight route between Pituffik, Greenland and Salida, Colorado, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland and Harriet Alexander Field (SLT), Salida, Colorado, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,857 miles (or 4,597 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 Thule Air Base and Harriet Alexander Field, 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 Thule Air Base and Harriet Alexander Field. 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 Thule Air Base (THU):

• Late 1950s the DEW 1 to 4 where build as "weather stations", Thule Air Base would act as an supply station for the DYE bases.
• Thule Air Base is also home to the 821st Air Base Group and is responsible for air base support within the Thule Defense Area for the multinational population of "Team Thule." The base hosts the 12th Space Warning Squadron which operates a Ballistic Missile Early Warning System designed to detect and track ICBMs launched against North America.
• The furthest airport from Thule Air Base (THU) is Hobart International Airport (HBA), which is located 9,883 miles (15,905 kilometers) away in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
• Thule is the location where the fastest recorded sea level surface wind speed in the world was measured when a peak speed of 333 kilometres per hour was recorded on 8 March 1972 prior to the instrument's destruction.
• After the German occupation of Denmark on 9 April 1940, Henrik Kauffmann Danish Ambassador to the United States, made an agreement "In the name of the king" with the United States authorizing the United States to defend the Danish colonies on Greenland from German aggression - this agreement faced Kaufmann with a charge of high treason.
• In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
• The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
• Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.

Facts about Harriet Alexander Field (SLT):

• The furthest airport from Harriet Alexander Field (SLT) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,993 miles (17,691 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Harriet Alexander Field (SLT) currently has only 1 runway.
• In the year ending April 20, 2006 the airport had 9,653 aircraft operations, 99.5% general aviation and 0.5% military.
• In addition to being known as "Harriet Alexander Field", another name for SLT is "ANK".
• Because of Harriet Alexander Field's high elevation of 7,523 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at SLT. Combined with a high temperature, this could make SLT a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Harriet Alexander Field (SLT) is Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport (GUC), which is located 48 miles (77 kilometers) W of SLT.