Nonstop flight route between Emirau, Papua New Guinea and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Emirau Airport (EMI), Emirau, Papua New Guinea and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,133 miles (or 11,480 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 Emirau 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 Emirau 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 Emirau Airport (EMI):

• Emirau was seized unopposed by two Battalions of the 4th Marine Division on 20 March 1944.Naval Construction Battalions arrived shortly after the landings and began construction of two coral-surfaced 7,000 feet by 150 feet airfields on the island.
• Emirau Airport is an airfield in Emirau Island, Papua New Guinea.
• The closest airport to Emirau Airport (EMI) is Kavieng Airport (KVG), which is located 87 miles (139 kilometers) SE of EMI.
• The furthest airport from Emirau Airport (EMI) is Governador Carlos Wilson Airport (FEN), which is nearly antipodal to Emirau Airport (meaning Emirau Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Governador Carlos Wilson Airport), and is located 12,022 miles (19,348 kilometers) away in Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco, Brazil.
• Emirau Airport (EMI) currently has only 1 runway.
• Base roll-up commenced in December 1944 and was completed by May 1945.
• Because of Emirau Airport's relatively low elevation of 100 feet, planes can take off or land at Emirau 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• The 44th Missile Wing, however, had ably accomplished its deterrence mission.
• In March 1944, heavy bomber operational training ended and the 225th Army Air Force Base Unit began training of replacement personnel for deployed heavy bombardment units in the overseas combat theaters.