Nonstop flight route between Tonopah, Nevada, United States and Oran, Algeria:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD), Tonopah, Nevada, United States and Es-Sénia – Ben Bella Airport (ORN), Oran, Algeria would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,926 miles (or 9,537 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 Es-Sénia – Ben Bella 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 Es-Sénia – Ben Bella 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 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.
• After the 4477th TES was inactivated, the remaining assets were reconstituted as a detachment of the 57th Fighter Wing at Nellis AFB.
• Several locations were considered, Michael Army Airfield at the Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah, and the Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field on the Goldwater Range in Arizona.
• 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 Tonopah Test Range airfield came into existence in 1957 and was used by the Department of Energy, the Air Force, and several contractors.
• Near the end of the Cold War the program was abandoned and the squadron was disbanded.
• The closest airport to Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD) is Tonopah Airport (TPH), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) NW of 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.
• The MiG-21 posed a major threat to Israeli Air Defenses as well as to American pilots over the skies of North Vietnam.

Facts about Es-Sénia – Ben Bella Airport (ORN):

• Because of Es-Sénia – Ben Bella Airport's relatively low elevation of 295 feet, planes can take off or land at Es-Sénia – Ben Bella 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 addition to being known as "Es-Sénia – Ben Bella Airport", other names for ORN include "Es Sénia Airport (Ouahran)" and "مطار السانية وهران".
• Once the combat units moved east to other airfields in Algeria and Tunisia during the late spring of 1943, the airfield came under the control of Air Transport Command, under which it functioned as a stopover en route to Algiers airport or to Port Lyautey Airfield, in French Morocco on the North African Cairo–Dakar transport route for cargo, transiting aircraft and personnel.
• Es-Sénia – Ben Bella Airport is an airport located 4.7 nm south of Oran, near Es Sénia, in Algeria.
• The furthest airport from Es-Sénia – Ben Bella Airport (ORN) is Whakatane Airport (WHK), which is nearly antipodal to Es-Sénia – Ben Bella Airport (meaning Es-Sénia – Ben Bella Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Whakatane Airport), and is located 12,228 miles (19,678 kilometers) away in Whakatane, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Es-Sénia – Ben Bella Airport (ORN) is Oran Tafaraoui Airport (TAF), which is located only 7 miles (12 kilometers) SE of ORN.
• Es-Sénia – Ben Bella Airport (ORN) has 2 runways.