Nonstop flight route between Shearwater, Nova Scotia, Canada and Orcas Island, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shearwater Heliport (YAW), Shearwater, Nova Scotia, Canada and Rosario Seaplane Base (RSJ), Orcas Island, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,758 miles (or 4,439 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 Shearwater Heliport and Rosario Seaplane Base, 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 Shearwater Heliport and Rosario Seaplane Base. 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 Shearwater Heliport (YAW):

• In addition to being known as "Shearwater Heliport", other names for YAW include "Halifax/Shearwater Heliport", "12 Wing Shearwater" and "CFB Shearwater".
• Canadian Forces Base Shearwater, commonly referred to as CFB Shearwater, was a Canadian Forces Base located in Shearwater, Nova Scotia on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour in the Halifax Regional Municipality.
• 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.
• 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.
• Base rationalization and defence budget cutbacks for the Canadian Forces during the mid-1990s saw a largely administrative move when the formation CFB Shearwater stood down and the facilities transferred to the formation CFB Halifax and aircraft operations becoming the responsibility of newly formed 12 Wing.
• The closest airport to Shearwater Heliport (YAW) is Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) N of YAW.
• As part of the heliport conversion project, the old runway 16/34 was permanently closed and placed outside of a new fence for the Shearwater Heliport, as shown in the Canada Flight Supplement effective 31 July 2008.
• 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 2002 only runway 10/28 remained open.

Facts about Rosario Seaplane Base (RSJ):

• The furthest airport from Rosario Seaplane Base (RSJ) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,715 miles (17,244 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Rosario Seaplane Base (RSJ) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Rosario Seaplane Base", another name for RSJ is "W49".
• The closest airport to Rosario Seaplane Base (RSJ) is Westsound Seaplane Base (WSX), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) WSW of RSJ.
• Because of Rosario Seaplane Base's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Rosario Seaplane Base 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.