Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Stewart Island, New Zealand:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GFA to SZS:
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- About this route
- GFA Airport Information
- SZS Airport Information
- Facts about GFA
- Facts about SZS
- Map of Nearest Airports to GFA
- List of Nearest Airports to GFA
- Map of Furthest Airports from GFA
- List of Furthest Airports from GFA
- Map of Nearest Airports to SZS
- List of Nearest Airports to SZS
- Map of Furthest Airports from SZS
- List of Furthest Airports from SZS
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), Stewart Island, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,128 miles (or 13,081 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 Malmstrom Air Force Base and Ryan's Creek Aerodrome, 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 Malmstrom Air Force Base and Ryan's Creek Aerodrome. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | GFA / KGFA |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Great Falls, Montana, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 47°30'16"N by 111°11'13"W |
View all routes: | Routes from GFA |
More Information: | GFA Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SZS / NZRC |
Airport Name: | Ryan's Creek Aerodrome |
Location: | Stewart Island, New Zealand |
GPS Coordinates: | 46°53'58"S by 168°6'6"E |
Operator/Owner: | South East Air |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 288 feet (88 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from SZS |
More Information: | SZS Maps & Info |
Facts about Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA):
- The closest airport to Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA) is Great Falls International Airport (GTF), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) W of GFA.
- Later, the 517th Air Transport Wing was redesginated the 1701st Air Transport Wing on 1 June 1948 when Air Transport Command was redesignated the Military Air Transport Service.
- Upon completion of the B-17 training program, in October 1943, Great Falls Army Air Base was transferred to the Air Transport Command and units from Gore Field were transferred to the base.
- The furthest airport from Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,495 miles (16,891 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- Great Falls was reassigned to the Central Air Defense Force at Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base in 1953.
- On 1 July 1968, the F-101B equipped 29th FIS was inactivated and replaced by the F-106 Delta Dart equipped 71st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which was reassigned from Richards Gebaur AFB when its ADC mission was eliminated.
- In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
Facts about Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS):
- The furthest airport from Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is nearly antipodal to Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (meaning Ryan's Creek Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from A Coruña Airport), and is located 12,135 miles (19,529 kilometers) away in A Coruña, Spain.
- Because of Ryan's Creek Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 288 feet, planes can take off or land at Ryan's Creek Aerodrome 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 aerodrome was built in the late 1970s to accommodate Stewart Island Air Services.
- Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS) currently has only 1 runway.
- In the mid-1980s Stewart Island Air Services changed its name to Southern Air Limited with Keith Smith, Joe Cave, Bill Haslett and Sam Nicol as shareholders.
- The closest airport to Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS) is Invercargill Airport (IVC), which is located 35 miles (57 kilometers) NNE of SZS.