Nonstop flight route between Tortuguero, Costa Rica and Shemya, Alaska, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from TTQ to SYA:
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- About this route
- TTQ Airport Information
- SYA Airport Information
- Facts about TTQ
- Facts about SYA
- Map of Nearest Airports to TTQ
- List of Nearest Airports to TTQ
- Map of Furthest Airports from TTQ
- List of Furthest Airports from TTQ
- Map of Nearest Airports to SYA
- List of Nearest Airports to SYA
- Map of Furthest Airports from SYA
- List of Furthest Airports from SYA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Tortuguero Airport (TTQ), Tortuguero, Costa Rica and Eareckson Air Station (SYA), Shemya, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,146 miles (or 9,891 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 Tortuguero Airport and Eareckson Air Station, 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 Tortuguero Airport and Eareckson Air Station. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | TTQ / MRAO |
Airport Name: | Tortuguero Airport |
Location: | Tortuguero, Costa Rica |
GPS Coordinates: | 10°34'8"N by 83°30'52"W |
Airport Type: | Private |
Elevation: | 82 feet (25 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from TTQ |
More Information: | TTQ Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SYA / PASY |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Shemya, Alaska, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 52°42'43"N by 174°6'48"E |
Operator/Owner: | U.S. Air Force |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 97 feet (30 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from SYA |
More Information: | SYA Maps & Info |
Facts about Tortuguero Airport (TTQ):
- Tortuguero Airport (TTQ) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Tortuguero Airport (TTQ) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is nearly antipodal to Tortuguero Airport (meaning Tortuguero Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport), and is located 12,322 miles (19,831 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
- Because of Tortuguero Airport's relatively low elevation of 82 feet, planes can take off or land at Tortuguero 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.
- The closest airport to Tortuguero Airport (TTQ) is Barra del Colorado Airport (BCL), which is located only 14 miles (23 kilometers) NNW of TTQ.
Facts about Eareckson Air Station (SYA):
- Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB.
- Eareckson Air Station (SYA) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Eareckson Air Station (SYA) is Casco Cove Coast Guard Station (ATU), which is located 40 miles (65 kilometers) WNW of SYA.
- The furthest airport from Eareckson Air Station (SYA) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,668 miles (17,168 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
- The Korean War brought extensive use by the Military Air Transport Service for the logistical support of Korea and Japan.
- The spring of 1944 brought improving weather and the B-24s and PV-1s to fly more missions over the Kuriles.
- Because of Eareckson Air Station's relatively low elevation of 97 feet, planes can take off or land at Eareckson Air Station 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 August, after the Soviet Union declared war against the Japanese Empire, B-24s were dispatched on reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering missions to observe the Russian activity in the Kuriles.
- The aerial photos taken on the raid showed the Japanese were building up forces in the area, transferring aircraft presumably from air bases on Hokkaido.
- The limited resources assigned to the Eleventh Air Force meant only a limited number of missions could be carried out over the Kuriles.
- In addition to being known as "Eareckson Air Station", other names for SYA include "Shemya Air Force Base", "Shemya Army Airfield" and " ".
- The station was also used by SAC Cobra Ball and other related projects which monitored missile-associated signals and tracks missiles during boost and re-entry phases to provide reconnaissance for treaty verification and theater ballistic missile proliferation.