Nonstop flight route between Proserpine, Queensland, Australia and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Whitsunday Coast Airport (PPP), Proserpine, Queensland, Australia and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,092 miles (or 13,022 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 Whitsunday Coast 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 Whitsunday Coast 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 Whitsunday Coast Airport (PPP):

• The furthest airport from Whitsunday Coast Airport (PPP) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,963 miles (19,253 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
• Recently the Passenger Terminal underwent an upgrade.
• Whitsunday Coast Airport (PPP) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Whitsunday Coast Airport", another name for PPP is "Proserpine/Whitsunday Coast Airport".
• In the year ending 30 June 2011 the airport handled 213,619 passengers making it the 27th busiest airport in Australia.
• The closest airport to Whitsunday Coast Airport (PPP) is Whitsunday Airport (WSY), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) NE of PPP.
• In September 2001, the airport suffered heavily from the collapse of Ansett Australia, who at the time were the biggest operators out of Proserpine with direct services to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
• Because of Whitsunday Coast Airport's relatively low elevation of 82 feet, planes can take off or land at Whitsunday 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.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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.
• 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 installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• 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.
• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• 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 740th AC&W Squadron began operations in 1955 with AN/MPS-7 search radar, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept and warning station.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".