Nonstop flight route between Geraldton, Western Australia, Australia and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Geraldton Airport (GET), Geraldton, Western Australia, Australia and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,112 miles (or 16,274 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 Geraldton 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 Geraldton 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 Geraldton Airport (GET):

• The closest airport to Geraldton Airport (GET) is Mullewa Airport (MXU), which is located 54 miles (87 kilometers) ENE of GET.
• Flying training squadrons from RAAF Base Pearce also use Geraldton Airport.
• The furthest airport from Geraldton Airport (GET) is L.F. Wade International Airport (BDA), which is nearly antipodal to Geraldton Airport (meaning Geraldton Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from L.F. Wade International Airport), and is located 12,188 miles (19,614 kilometers) away in Ferry Reach (near Hamilton), Bermuda.
• Because of Geraldton Airport's relatively low elevation of 121 feet, planes can take off or land at Geraldton 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.
• Geraldton Airport handled 104,051 passengers last year.
• Dunns Aerial Spraying & Spreading Service provides crop dusting services from the airport for up to nine months of each year.
• The closest significant aerodromes are Mullewa, 100 km to the east or Kalbarri 100 km to the north and for larger jet operations Perth Airport, 370 km to the south.
• Geraldton Airport (GET) has 3 runways.

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.
• 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 base experienced one of its worst peacetime tragedies in March 1953 when an RB-36 and its entire crew of 23 crashed in Newfoundland while returning from a routine exercise in Europe.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.