Nonstop flight route between Shearwater, Nova Scotia, Canada and Fort Sumner, New Mexico, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from YAW to FSU:
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- About this route
- YAW Airport Information
- FSU Airport Information
- Facts about YAW
- Facts about FSU
- Map of Nearest Airports to YAW
- List of Nearest Airports to YAW
- Map of Furthest Airports from YAW
- List of Furthest Airports from YAW
- Map of Nearest Airports to FSU
- List of Nearest Airports to FSU
- Map of Furthest Airports from FSU
- List of Furthest Airports from FSU
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Shearwater Heliport (YAW), Shearwater, Nova Scotia, Canada and Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU), Fort Sumner, New Mexico, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,253 miles (or 3,626 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 relatively short distance between Shearwater Heliport and Fort Sumner Municipal Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | YAW / CYAW |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Shearwater, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| GPS Coordinates: | 44°38'13"N by 63°30'7"W |
| Operator/Owner: | Government of Canada |
| Airport Type: | Military |
| Elevation: | 144 feet (44 meters) |
| View all routes: | Routes from YAW |
| More Information: | YAW Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | FSU / KFSU |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Fort Sumner, New Mexico, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 34°29'16"N by 104°13'0"W |
| Area Served: | Fort Sumner, New Mexico |
| Operator/Owner: | Village of Fort Sumner |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 4165 feet (1,269 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from FSU |
| More Information: | FSU Maps & Info |
Facts about Shearwater Heliport (YAW):
- The furthest airport from Shearwater Heliport (YAW) is Albany Airport (ALH), which is located 11,763 miles (18,931 kilometers) away in Albany, Western Australia, Australia.
- Defence cutbacks and unit and facility realignments from 1994 to 1996 saw CFB Shearwater stand down as a separate formation and the facility merged as an airfield attached to CFB Halifax.
- During the late 1990s and early 2000s the Shearwater airfield was scaled back significantly as the facility transitioned to a heliport with surplus lands identified and transferred to Canada Lands Company.
- These changes allowed for heliport operations including instrument approaches and were accompanied with the construction of other non-airfield facilities in support of the Maritime Helicopter Project.
- The air show moved to Yarmouth Airport in 2009 but returned to Shearwater in 2010, the first time since 2003 that an air show was held at the historic airfield.
- In addition to being known as "Shearwater Heliport", other names for YAW include "Halifax/Shearwater Heliport", "12 Wing Shearwater" and "CFB Shearwater".
- By 2002 only runway 10/28 remained open.
- The closest airport to Shearwater Heliport (YAW) is Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) N of YAW.
- Beginning in the 1970s, CFB Shearwater began hosting an Armed Forces Day every fall, typically on the weekend following Labour Day, and included an air show where the long and wide runways at Shearwater hosted some of the largest aircraft in the world, including the U.S.
- Because of Shearwater Heliport's relatively low elevation of 144 feet, planes can take off or land at Shearwater Heliport 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.
- By the 1980s this air show came to be named the "Shearwater International Air Show" and was a popular event for military aviation enthusiasts in Eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States as the location of CFB Shearwater, coupled with the popularity of the Halifax area among military aircrew, resulted in heavy international participation from the RCAF, as well as the USAF, United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, Royal Air Force and numerous other NATO air forces in Europe.
Facts about Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU):
- The furthest airport from Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,167 miles (17,971 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- The closest airport to Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU) is Cannon Air Force Base Clovis Air Force Base/AAF (CVS), which is located 51 miles (83 kilometers) E of FSU.
- In addition to being known as "Fort Sumner Municipal Airport", another name for FSU is "Fort Sumner Army Airfield".
- Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU) has 2 runways.
- Because of Fort Sumner Municipal Airport's high elevation of 4,165 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at FSU. Combined with a high temperature, this could make FSU a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- Current two operational balloon launch campaigns are conducted at the airport each year.
- The airfield's origins date to the 1920s when the Transcontinental Air Transport airline built an airfield in Fort Sumner as part of its coast-to-coast air passenger network, but the site was abandoned when the airline's ambitious plans collapsed in the Great Depression.
