Nonstop flight route between Grovedale, Victoria, Australia and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Geelong Airport (GEX), Grovedale, Victoria, Australia and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,007 miles (or 14,495 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 Geelong 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 Geelong 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 Geelong Airport (GEX):

• The furthest airport from Geelong Airport (GEX) is Flores Airport (FLW), which is nearly antipodal to Geelong Airport (meaning Geelong Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Flores Airport), and is located 12,178 miles (19,599 kilometers) away in Flores Island, Azores, Portugal.
• Because of Geelong Airport's relatively low elevation of 140 feet, planes can take off or land at Geelong 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 Geelong Airport (GEX) is Avalon Airport (AVV), which is located only 16 miles (25 kilometers) NW of GEX.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• On 1 June 1971, SAC deactivated the 821st Strategic Aerospace Division and by October of that year, an upgraded LGM-30F Minuteman II also replaced the Minuteman I missiles.
• 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.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• 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.
• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.