Nonstop flight route between Nairobi, Kenya and Tonopah, Nevada, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from WIL to XSD:
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- About this route
- WIL Airport Information
- XSD Airport Information
- Facts about WIL
- Facts about XSD
- Map of Nearest Airports to WIL
- List of Nearest Airports to WIL
- Map of Furthest Airports from WIL
- List of Furthest Airports from WIL
- Map of Nearest Airports to XSD
- List of Nearest Airports to XSD
- Map of Furthest Airports from XSD
- List of Furthest Airports from XSD
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wilson Airport (WIL), Nairobi, Kenya and Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD), Tonopah, Nevada, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,410 miles (or 15,144 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 Wilson 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 Wilson 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:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | WIL / HKNW |
| Airport Name: | Wilson Airport |
| Location: | Nairobi, Kenya |
| GPS Coordinates: | 1°19'12"S by 36°48'53"E |
| Area Served: | Nairobi |
| Operator/Owner: | Kenya Airports Authority |
| Airport Type: | Public, Civilian |
| Elevation: | 5546 feet (1,690 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from WIL |
| More Information: | WIL Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | XSD / KTNX |
| Airport Name: | Tonopah Test Range Airport |
| Location: | Tonopah, Nevada, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 37°47'40"N by 116°46'42"W |
| View all routes: | Routes from XSD |
| More Information: | XSD Maps & Info |
Facts about Wilson Airport (WIL):
- The furthest airport from Wilson Airport (WIL) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is located 11,619 miles (18,698 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
- Because of Wilson Airport's high elevation of 5,546 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at WIL. Combined with a high temperature, this could make WIL a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- Wilson Airport (WIL) has 2 runways.
- Airkenya and other small airlines use Wilson Airport for scheduled domestic passenger services, instead of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
- The closest airport to Wilson Airport (WIL) is Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) E of WIL.
Facts about Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD):
- It is known that the USAF continues a Foreign Materiel Acquisition/Exploitation program, although the extent of acquisitions and operations of that program is not available.
- Tonopah is owned by the USAF Air Combat Command.
- Near the end of the Cold War the program was abandoned and the squadron was disbanded.
- 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.
- The earliest known depiction of the airfield was on the July 1970 Air Force Tactical Pilotage Chart.
- 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.
- What was learned during these projects prompted the US Navy to commence Top Gun exercises first at NAS Miramar, California and then NAS Fallon, Nevada.
- The closest airport to Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD) is Tonopah Airport (TPH), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) NW of XSD.
- The advent of Operation Rolling Thunder during the Vietnam War in March of 1965 led to the introduction of the obsolete and subsonic MiG-17 and the supersonic MiG-21 by the North Vietnamese Air Force being pitted against U.S.
