Nonstop flight route between Biak, Indonesia and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK), Biak, Indonesia and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,770 miles (or 12,505 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 Frans Kaisiepo 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 Frans Kaisiepo 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 Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK):

• Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK) currently has only 1 runway.
• Mokmer Airfield is located to the west of Mokmer village on Biak, parallel to the coastline and the Japen Straight and is the only one of the three currently used as an airport, now called Frans Kaisiepo International Airport.
• The terminal is equipped with numerous facilities including a mosque, public telephone boxes, Automated Teller Machines, restaurants, and souvenir shops.
• With the advent of jet airliners such as the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8, the airport went through another modernization to start accommodating them.
• In addition to being known as "Frans Kaisiepo Airport", another name for BIK is "Bandara Frans Kaisiepo".
• The closest airport to Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK) is Kornasoren Airport (FOO), which is located 87 miles (140 kilometers) WNW of BIK.
• The furthest airport from Frans Kaisiepo Airport (BIK) is Marechal Cunha Machado International Airport (Tirirical) (SLZ), which is nearly antipodal to Frans Kaisiepo Airport (meaning Frans Kaisiepo Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Marechal Cunha Machado International Airport (Tirirical)), and is located 12,175 miles (19,593 kilometers) away in São Luís, Brazil.
• Frans Kaisiepo Airport handled 366 passengers last year.
• The Battle of Biak Island came about after a succession of Japanese defeats in 1943 and 1944 along the northern coast of New Guinea.
• Because of Frans Kaisiepo Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at Frans Kaisiepo 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.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (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.
• 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.
• 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 Titan I's life span was short in western South Dakota.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.