Nonstop flight route between Tonopah, Nevada, United States and Nanyuki, Kenya:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD), Tonopah, Nevada, United States and Nanyuki Airfield (NYK), Nanyuki, Kenya would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,343 miles (or 15,036 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 Nanyuki Airfield, 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 Nanyuki Airfield. 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 1969 Pakistan supplied the U.S.
• In addition, unconfirmed Soviet aircraft flown were MiG-25 Foxbat.
• The closest airport to Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD) is Tonopah Airport (TPH), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) NW of XSD.
• 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.
• 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.
• After the 4477th TES was inactivated, the remaining assets were reconstituted as a detachment of the 57th Fighter Wing at Nellis AFB.
• On 12 August 1968, the IDF obtained two Syrian Air Force MiG-17F fighters that had gotten lost during a training flight and landed inadvertently at Besert Landing Field, Israel.

Facts about Nanyuki Airfield (NYK):

• The closest airport to Nanyuki Airfield (NYK) is Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO), which is located 87 miles (140 kilometers) S of NYK.
• The furthest airport from Nanyuki Airfield (NYK) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is located 11,705 miles (18,838 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
• Offices and facilities have been built.
• Because of Nanyuki Airfield's high elevation of 6,250 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at NYK. Combined with a high temperature, this could make NYK a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Located on the western foot hills of Mount Kenya, it lies only 8 kilometres, south of the Equator.
• In addition to being known as "Nanyuki Airfield", another name for NYK is "Nanyuki Airport".
• Nanyuki Airfield (NYK) currently has only 1 runway.
• In the early 1990s the airfield became home to Tropic Air Kenya — a small air charter company operating single-engine Cessna aircraft and helicopters.
• In the late 1960s the Nanyuki Airfield was originally along the Nanyuki – Rumuruti Road.