Nonstop flight route between Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, United States and Kieta, Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kincheloe Air Force Base (INR), Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, United States and Kieta/Aropa Airport (KIE), Kieta, Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,938 miles (or 12,776 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 Kincheloe Air Force Base and Kieta/Aropa Airport, 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 Kincheloe Air Force Base and Kieta/Aropa Airport. 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 Kincheloe Air Force Base (INR):

• The closest airport to Kincheloe Air Force Base (INR) is Chippewa County International Airport (CIU), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of INR.
• Kinross was considered a vital Air Defense Command base, an alert-status military base equipped with interceptors ready 24/7 to respond to unknown aircraft picked up by Ground Control Radar stations in the Great Lakes region.
• On 18 August 1955, the 534th ADS was inactivated and immediately replaced by the 507th Fighter Group in a name-only re-designation.
• In October, 1952, the 4685th Air Base Squadron was assigned to the reactivated Kinross AFB.
• The 438th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was upgraded again to the F-106 Delta Dart interceptor in June 1960, one of the first ADC squadrons to receive the new interceptor.
• The furthest airport from Kincheloe Air Force Base (INR) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,103 miles (17,869 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In 1962, in order to retain the lineage of its MAJCOM 4-digit combat units and to perpetuate the lineage of many currently inactive bombardment units with illustrious World War II records, Headquarters SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its MAJCOM strategic wings that were equipped with combat aircraft and to activate AFCON units, most of which were inactive at the time which could carry a lineage and history.

Facts about Kieta/Aropa Airport (KIE):

• The furthest airport from Kieta/Aropa Airport (KIE) is São Filipe Airport (SFL), which is located 11,844 miles (19,061 kilometers) away in Fogo, Cape Verde.
• After World War II the airport became one of Bougainville's main airports.
• The airport was partially destroyed during the Bougainville Crisis of the 1990s and has been closed since then.
• The closest airport to Kieta/Aropa Airport (KIE) is Balalae Airport (BAS), which is located 49 miles (79 kilometers) SSE of KIE.
• Because of Kieta/Aropa Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Kieta/Aropa 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.
• Kieta/Aropa Airport (KIE) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Kieta/Aropa Airport", another name for KIE is "AYIQ".