Nonstop flight route between Noatak, Alaska, United States and Del Rio, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Noatak Airport (WTK), Noatak, Alaska, United States and Laughlin Air Force Base (DLF), Del Rio, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,630 miles (or 5,841 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 Noatak Airport and Laughlin Air Force Base, 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 Noatak Airport and Laughlin Air Force Base. 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 Noatak Airport (WTK):

• The closest airport to Noatak Airport (WTK) is Kivalina Airport (KVL), which is located 43 miles (70 kilometers) WNW of WTK.
• Because of Noatak Airport's relatively low elevation of 88 feet, planes can take off or land at Noatak 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 furthest airport from Noatak Airport (WTK) is Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Airport (TNM), which is located 10,321 miles (16,611 kilometers) away in Villa Las Estrellas, Antarctica.
• Noatak Airport (WTK) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Laughlin Air Force Base (DLF):

• In 1961, Headquarters US Air Force notified Laughlin officials their mission would expand to again include an Air Training Command undergraduate pilot training program.
• The furthest airport from Laughlin Air Force Base (DLF) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,241 miles (18,091 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Laughlin Air Force Base (DLF) is Del Rio International Airport (DRT), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) W of DLF.
• Today, aircraft flown at Laughlin include the T-6A Texan II, the T-38C Talon and T-1A Jayhawk.
• Laughlin AFB, the largest pilot training base in the USAF, is home to the 47th Flying Training Wing of the Air Education and Training Command.
• Another 4080th pilot, Major Rudolf Anderson, Jr., perished when his U-2 was hit by shrapnel from a Soviet-made SA-2 on October 22, 1962 while overflying Cuba from McCoy AFB.
• The median income for a household on the base was $38,625, and the median income for a family was $38,625.
• Laughlin U-2s were among the first to provide photographic evidence of Soviet missile installations in Cuba in 1962 when 4080th U-2 pilot Major Steve Heyser flew his U-2C over Cuba after taking off from Edwards AFB, California.