Nonstop flight route between Avalon, Victoria, Australia and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Avalon Airport (AVV), Avalon, Victoria, Australia and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,008 miles (or 14,497 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 Avalon 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 Avalon 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 Avalon Airport (AVV):

• In 1997, the Australian Commonwealth government through the Department of Defence, granted Linfox a 50 year plus a 49 year option lease of the airport.
• In the beginning, the airport was a sheep and cattle farm and homestead, founded by James Austin, an immigrant from Glastonbury, Scotland.
• In addition to being known as "Avalon Airport", another name for AVV is "Melbourne/Avalon".
• Because of Avalon Airport's relatively low elevation of 115 feet, planes can take off or land at Avalon 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 airport's location between Melbourne and Geelong makes it both a capital city airport and an regional airport, servicing a large regional catchment in western Victoria and providing connections to tourism destinations such as the Great Ocean Road. Since Linfox Group’s purchase of the airport in 1997, Avalon Airport’s aviation operations have grown significantly as it has established itself as a second gateway to the Melbourne and Geelong regions.
• The closest airport to Avalon Airport (AVV) is Geelong Airport (GEX), which is located only 16 miles (25 kilometers) SE of AVV.
• The furthest airport from Avalon Airport (AVV) is Flores Airport (FLW), which is nearly antipodal to Avalon Airport (meaning Avalon Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Flores Airport), and is located 12,165 miles (19,578 kilometers) away in Flores Island, Azores, Portugal.
• In July 2011, the Civil Aviation Authority grounded all Tiger flights for 5 days, after a series of breaches by the airline, including a flight from Sydney to Avalon Airport where it flew too close to the terminal building as it approached the runway.
• Avalon Airport (AVV) currently has only 1 runway.
• In October 2012, the Federal Government announced the selection of the airport as the second Melbourne International Airport, and that it would amend the airport's lease, allowing it to build a new terminal and paving the way for international passenger flights
• In June 2011, Tiger announced it would be withdrawing several flights from the airport to Tullamarine Airport to make the airline operations more profitable.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• In 1986, the base and the 28 BMW made extensive preparations to phase out the aging B-52 fleet and become the second home for the advanced B-1B Lancer.
• 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.
• On 2 January 1942, the U.S.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• The 740th AC&W Squadron began operations in 1955 with AN/MPS-7 search radar, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept and warning station.
• 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.
• 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 AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.