Nonstop flight route between Dargaville, New Zealand and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Dargaville Aerodrome (DGR), Dargaville, New Zealand and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,585 miles (or 12,206 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 Dargaville Aerodrome 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 Dargaville Aerodrome 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 Dargaville Aerodrome (DGR):

• The closest airport to Dargaville Aerodrome (DGR) is Whangarei Airport (WRE), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) ENE of DGR.
• Because of Dargaville Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 635 feet, planes can take off or land at Dargaville 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 furthest airport from Dargaville Aerodrome (DGR) is Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport (TNG), which is nearly antipodal to Dargaville Aerodrome (meaning Dargaville Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport), and is located 12,419 miles (19,986 kilometers) away in Tangier, Morocco.
• Dargaville airfield is at sea level at the northern end of the large Kaipara harbour, forming a pair with the similar sea level West Auckland Airport, at Parakai at the southern end of the harbour some 50 miles away.
• Dargaville Aerodrome (DGR) has 2 runways.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• On 1 June 1992, as part of the first major reorganization since the creation of USAF, the Air Force inactivated Strategic Air Command and assigned Ellsworth's organizations ) to the newly activated Air Combat Command.
• Air Defense Command activated the 740th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Rapid City AFB on 1 February 1953 under the ADC 31st Air Division.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.