Nonstop flight route between Rottnest Island, Western Australia, Australia and Wichita Falls, Texas, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from RTS to SPS:
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- About this route
- RTS Airport Information
- SPS Airport Information
- Facts about RTS
- Facts about SPS
- Map of Nearest Airports to RTS
- List of Nearest Airports to RTS
- Map of Furthest Airports from RTS
- List of Furthest Airports from RTS
- Map of Nearest Airports to SPS
- List of Nearest Airports to SPS
- Map of Furthest Airports from SPS
- List of Furthest Airports from SPS
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Rottnest Airport (RTS), Rottnest Island, Western Australia, Australia and Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS), Wichita Falls, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,469 miles (or 16,848 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 Rottnest Airport and Sheppard Air Force 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 Rottnest Airport and Sheppard Air Force Base. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | RTS / YRTI |
Airport Name: | Rottnest Airport |
Location: | Rottnest Island, Western Australia, Australia |
GPS Coordinates: | 32°0'24"S by 115°32'22"E |
Operator/Owner: | Rottnest Island Authority |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 12 feet (4 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from RTS |
More Information: | RTS Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SPS / KSPS |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Wichita Falls, Texas, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 33°59'20"N by 98°29'30"W |
View all routes: | Routes from SPS |
More Information: | SPS Maps & Info |
Facts about Rottnest Airport (RTS):
- Rottnest Airlines operated the service until 1999 when it was taken over by Frank Stynman who operates a four and six-seater daily service from Jandakot called Rottnest Air-Taxi.
- Woods Airways which was run by pioneer aviator Jimmy Woods, operated the Perth to Rottnest service from about 1948 with two war-surplus Royal Australian Air Force Avro Anson aircraft.
- Rottnest Airport (RTS) currently has only 1 runway.
- MacRobertson Miller Airlines took over services after Wood's Airways using both DC-3 and Fokker F27 Friendship, until the route became uneconomical.
- The furthest airport from Rottnest Airport (RTS) is L.F. Wade International Airport (BDA), which is nearly antipodal to Rottnest Airport (meaning Rottnest Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from L.F. Wade International Airport), and is located 12,409 miles (19,970 kilometers) away in Ferry Reach (near Hamilton), Bermuda.
- Because of Rottnest Airport's relatively low elevation of 12 feet, planes can take off or land at Rottnest 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 Rottnest Airport (RTS) is Jandakot Airport (JAD), which is located 21 miles (34 kilometers) ESE of RTS.
- The single 1,290 m × 18 m runway runs east-west and is situated behind Thomsons Bay and south of Government House Lake.
- Woods Airways VH-WAB, c.1953
Facts about Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS):
- Helicopter pilot training was transferred from Stead AFB, Nevada in October 1965, with H-19, H-43, Bell TH-1F, CH-3C and HH-3E helicopters used for training.
- The closest airport to Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS) is Kickapoo Downtown Airport (KIP), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) S of SPS.
- Additionally, officers from all 13 participating nations fill subordinate leadership positions throughout the wing.
- In addition to being known as "Sheppard Air Force Base", another name for SPS is "Sheppard AFB".
- The aircraft mechanics school was transferred to Sheppard from Keesler AFB, Mississippi in April 1949 to make room for expansion of electronic training at that base.
- During World War II, then-Sheppard Field conducted basic training, and it also trained glider mechanics, technical and flying training instructors and B-29 Superfortress flight engineers.
- The furthest airport from Sheppard Air Force Base (SPS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,952 miles (17,626 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- The Department of Defense proposed a major realignment of the base, as part of the Base Realignment and Closure program announced on 13 May 2005.