Nonstop flight route between Wanigela, Papua New Guinea and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wanigela Airport (AGL), Wanigela, Papua New Guinea and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,546 miles (or 12,144 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 Wanigela Airport and Ellsworth 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 Wanigela Airport and Ellsworth Air Force 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 Wanigela Airport (AGL):

• The closest airport to Wanigela Airport (AGL) is Agaun Airport (AUP), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) SSE of AGL.
• The furthest airport from Wanigela Airport (AGL) is São Filipe Airport (SFL), which is located 11,861 miles (19,088 kilometers) away in Fogo, Cape Verde.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• The furthest airport from Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,579 miles (17,026 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• After the Army closed their facilities, the military housing at the Nike Integrated Fire Control sites was transferred to control of Ellsworth, and was used as Air Force military family housing until about 1990.
• The closest airport to Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA) is Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) S of RCA.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• The airfield was again temporarily shut down from September 1946 – March 1947 and underwent a major construction program to upgrade the temporary wartime facilities to that of a permanent base.
• Military organizations periodically upgrade manpower and machines from time to time to meet new national security requirements and Ellsworth Air Force Base's organizations were no exception.
• The 44th Missile Wing, however, had ably accomplished its deterrence mission.
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".