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):

• The runways remain usable.
• Base roll-up commenced in December 1944 and was completed by May 1945.
• Emirau Airport is an airfield in Emirau Island, Papua New Guinea.
• Emirau Airport (EMI) currently has only 1 runway.
• There was also one Australian unit located on the island - the 474 Heavy Anti-aircraft Troop.
• 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Emirau Airport (EMI) is Kavieng Airport (KVG), which is located 87 miles (139 kilometers) SE of EMI.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• 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.
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• 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".
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• 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 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.