Nonstop flight route between Tonopah, Nevada, United States and Alderney, Channel Islands, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD), Tonopah, Nevada, United States and Alderney Airport (ACI), Alderney, Channel Islands, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,198 miles (or 8,365 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 Tonopah Test Range Airport and Alderney 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 Tonopah Test Range Airport and Alderney 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 Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD):

• None of the Soviet-designed aircraft at Tonopah flew in bad weather or at night.
• 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.
• In July 1975, the 4477th Tactical Evaluation Flight was formed at Nellis AFB as tactical evaluation organization.
• 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.
• In May 1973, when Project HAVE IDEA was initiated for joint technical and tactical evaluation of Soviet aircraft types, the tactical evaluation flights of foreign aircraft were undertaken by Detachment 1, 57th Fighter Weapons Wing.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD) is Tonopah Airport (TPH), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) NW of XSD.
• The assets of the squadron could not go to the boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB, and the fate of them remains in some cases, still classified.
• 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 Tonopah Range Airport first opened in 1957, supporting operations on the Test Range itself, which was used for United States Atomic Energy Commission ) funded weapon programs.
• In the 1980s, Tonopah Airport became a major operating location for the Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk.

Facts about Alderney Airport (ACI):

• The closest airport to Alderney Airport (ACI) is Guernsey Airport (GCI), which is located 26 miles (41 kilometers) SW of ACI.
• The furthest airport from Alderney Airport (ACI) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,999 miles (19,310 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• Alderney Airport (ACI) has 3 runways.
• Because of Alderney Airport's relatively low elevation of 290 feet, planes can take off or land at Alderney 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.
• In July 2013, airline Aurigny announced that from September it will launch direct flights to Jersey on a trial basis for a period of six weeks.
• The book documents a previously unpublicised aspect of the island's history, was published by Amberley Publishing in summer 2010.
• Alderney is unique amongst Channel Islands airports, in having three operational runways.