Nonstop flight route between Tonopah, Nevada, United States and Mendi, Papua New Guinea:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD), Tonopah, Nevada, United States and Mendi Airport (MDU), Mendi, Papua New Guinea would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,000 miles (or 11,265 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 Mendi 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 Mendi 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):

• In July 1975, the 4477th Tactical Evaluation Flight was formed at Nellis AFB as tactical evaluation organization.
• 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.
• None of the Soviet-designed aircraft at Tonopah flew in bad weather or at night.
• In the summer of 1979, Tonopah Test Range Airport was selected to be the home of the Tactical Air Command 4450th Tactical Group.
• 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 2006, the Constant Peg program was declassified and the USAF held a series of press conferences about the former top secret US MiGs.
• The closest airport to Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD) is Tonopah Airport (TPH), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) NW of XSD.

Facts about Mendi Airport (MDU):

• The closest airport to Mendi Airport (MDU) is Moro Airport (MXH), which is located 32 miles (52 kilometers) WSW of MDU.
• The furthest airport from Mendi Airport (MDU) is Pinto Martins – Fortaleza International Airport (FOR), which is located 11,735 miles (18,885 kilometers) away in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
• Because of Mendi Airport's high elevation of 5,680 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MDU. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MDU a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Mendi Airport (MDU) currently has only 1 runway.