Nonstop flight route between Mount Clemens, Michigan, United States and Paraparaumu Beach, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Selfridge Air National Guard Base (MTC), Mount Clemens, Michigan, United States and Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ), Paraparaumu Beach, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,574 miles (or 13,799 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 Selfridge Air National Guard Base and Kapiti Coast 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 Selfridge Air National Guard Base and Kapiti Coast 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 Selfridge Air National Guard Base (MTC):

• The origins of Selfridge Air National Guard Base date to 1916 when a large tract of land on Lake St.
• Beginning 27 June 1919, Selfridge became the home of the 1st Pursuit Group, currently the oldest combat group in the Air Force.
• The furthest airport from Selfridge Air National Guard Base (MTC) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,298 miles (18,182 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In 1965, the Strategic Air Command announced that the 4045th Air Refueling Wing was to be discontinued beginning in 1966.
• In addition to being known as "Selfridge Air National Guard Base", another name for MTC is "Selfridge ANGB".
• Air races at Selfridge from 1922 through the 1930s included the first John Mitchell Trophy Race, the Pulitzer Trophy Race, and the Curtiss Trophy Race and Boeing Trophy.
• The 1918 Armistice with Germany ended World War I.
• On 9 July, the first training aircraft, a Curtiss JN-4D arrived at the new airfield, and the base was gearing up to train men in flying, bombing, radio and photography for the war effort.
• The closest airport to Selfridge Air National Guard Base (MTC) is Coleman A. Young International Airport (DET), which is located only 16 miles (26 kilometers) SSW of MTC.
• After World War II Selfridge expanded to its present size of 3,600 acres, and in 1947 the Selfridge Army Air Base was renamed Selfridge Air Force Base.

Facts about Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ):

• Kapiti Coast Airport, earlier called Paraparaumu Airport, is on the Kapiti Coast of New Zealand's North Island, between the Wellington dormitory suburbs of Paraparaumu Beach, Paraparaumu to the east, and Raumati Beach to the south.
• As recently as 1992, alternate sites for a new airport for Wellington were investigated, including Paraparaumu, but a decision was made to upgrade Wellington Airport's existing site.
• The furthest airport from Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ) is Salamanca-Matacán Airport (SLM), which is nearly antipodal to Kapiti Coast Airport (meaning Kapiti Coast Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salamanca-Matacán Airport), and is located 12,411 miles (19,973 kilometers) away in Salamanca, Spain.
• Re-development proposals involve closing 11/29, with a parallel grass runway as the only crosswind runway.
• Paraparaumu was judged unsuitable for international operations in the 1950s due to Kapiti Island to the near west and the Tararua Ranges barely a mile east infringing the take-off and landing flightpaths.
• Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ) is Wellington International Airport (WLG), which is located 31 miles (49 kilometers) SSW of PPQ.
• On 17 February 2008, above an adjacent hardware store, Placemakers, there was a triple-fatality mid-air collision between a Cessna 152 and a helicopter, both of which plummeted from approximately 1500 ft, the helicopter into the store and the plane into a nearby street.
• Because of Kapiti Coast Airport's relatively low elevation of 22 feet, planes can take off or land at Kapiti Coast 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.