Nonstop flight route between Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Stewart Island, New Zealand:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from AYH to SZS:
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- About this route
- AYH Airport Information
- SZS Airport Information
- Facts about AYH
- Facts about SZS
- Map of Nearest Airports to AYH
- List of Nearest Airports to AYH
- Map of Furthest Airports from AYH
- List of Furthest Airports from AYH
- 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 RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH), Alconbury, England, United Kingdom and Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), Stewart Island, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 11,793 miles (or 18,980 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 RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 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 RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 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: | AYH / EGWZ |
| Airport Name: | RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 |
| Location: | Alconbury, England, United Kingdom |
| GPS Coordinates: | 52°21'47"N by 0°13'22"W |
| Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
| View all routes: | Routes from AYH |
| More Information: | AYH 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 RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH):
- In October 1941 two of its flights with 16 Wellingtons were dispatched to operate from Malta, supposedly on an emergency detachment.
- The technical site on the north-west side was expanded where a single T2 hangar was also erected.
- In addition, two underground gasoline storage facilities, with a total capacity of 216,000 gallons were situated at points adjacent to the perimeter track, but at some distance from the explosive storage area.
- During the Second World War, it was controlled by the USAAF Eighth Air Force, from 23 February 1944 to 7 August 1945 the United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe, thereafter the United States Air Forces in Europe,
- This was the time of the Blitz, when many parts of Britain were being subjected to an almost nightly series of heavy air raids.
- The closest airport to RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Cambridge International Airport (CBG), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) ESE of AYH.
- In late 1940/41, an expansion of RAF Alconbury commenced to upgrade its facilities from a satellite airfield to a fully operational one.
- While this work was in progress, No.
- The furthest airport from RAF AlconburyUSAAF Station 102 (AYH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,821 miles (19,024 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
Facts about Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS):
- In 2000 Southern Air 1997 Ltd was bought by Stewart Island Flights, which uses Islanders FXE and FWZ, Cessna A185E Skywagon JEM and Piper PA32 Cherokee Sixs RTS and DIV aircraft in its service.
- Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS) currently has only 1 runway.
- 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 closest airport to Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS) is Invercargill Airport (IVC), which is located 35 miles (57 kilometers) NNE of SZS.
- 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 aerodrome was built in the late 1970s to accommodate Stewart Island Air Services.
