Nonstop flight route between Tonopah, Nevada, United States and Fakarava, Society Islands, French Polynesia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD), Tonopah, Nevada, United States and Fakarava Airport (FAV), Fakarava, Society Islands, French Polynesia would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,166 miles (or 6,705 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 Fakarava 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 Fakarava 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• In July 1975, the 4477th Tactical Evaluation Flight was formed at Nellis AFB as tactical evaluation organization.
• On 16 August 1966, Iraqi Air Force Captain Munir Redfa took off from Rasheed Air Base, near Baghdad on a routine navigation training flight.
• All the models had quirks.
• Contrary to what some in the major media have reported, not all the jets found at captured Iraqi Air Force bases were from the Gulf War era.

Facts about Fakarava Airport (FAV):

• The furthest airport from Fakarava Airport (FAV) is Atbara Airport (ATB), which is nearly antipodal to Fakarava Airport (meaning Fakarava Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Atbara Airport), and is located 12,321 miles (19,828 kilometers) away in Atbara, Sudan.
• The closest airport to Fakarava Airport (FAV) is Apataki Airport (APK), which is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) WNW of FAV.
• Because of Fakarava Airport's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Fakarava 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.