Nonstop flight route between Aniwa Island, Taféa, Vanuatu and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Aniwa Airport (AWD), Aniwa Island, Taféa, Vanuatu and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,007 miles (or 11,276 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 Aniwa 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 Aniwa 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 Aniwa Airport (AWD):

• Because of Aniwa Airport's relatively low elevation of 69 feet, planes can take off or land at Aniwa 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 furthest airport from Aniwa Airport (AWD) is Tichitt Airport (THI), which is nearly antipodal to Aniwa Airport (meaning Aniwa Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tichitt Airport), and is located 12,358 miles (19,888 kilometers) away in Tichitt, Mauritania.
• The closest airport to Aniwa Airport (AWD) is Ipota Airport (IPA), which is located 33 miles (54 kilometers) NW of AWD.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• The 44th Missile Wing, however, had ably accomplished its deterrence mission.
• 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.
• 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.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• To provide air defense of the base, the United States Army established the Ellsworth AFB Defense Area in 1957 and constructed Nike-Ajax Surface-to-air missile sites for air defense.