Nonstop flight route between Pukarua, Tuamotus, French Polynesia and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from PUK to RCA:
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- About this route
- PUK Airport Information
- RCA Airport Information
- Facts about PUK
- Facts about RCA
- Map of Nearest Airports to PUK
- List of Nearest Airports to PUK
- Map of Furthest Airports from PUK
- List of Furthest Airports from PUK
- Map of Nearest Airports to RCA
- List of Nearest Airports to RCA
- Map of Furthest Airports from RCA
- List of Furthest Airports from RCA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Pukarua Airport (PUK), Pukarua, Tuamotus, French Polynesia and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,817 miles (or 7,753 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 Pukarua 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 Pukarua 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:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | PUK / NTGQ |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Pukarua, Tuamotus, French Polynesia |
| GPS Coordinates: | 18°17'44"S by 137°1'0"W |
| Area Served: | Pukarua |
| Operator/Owner: | DSEAC Polynésie Française |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from PUK |
| More Information: | PUK Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | RCA / KRCA |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Rapid City, South Dakota, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 44°8'47"N by 103°4'28"W |
| View all routes: | Routes from RCA |
| More Information: | RCA Maps & Info |
Facts about Pukarua Airport (PUK):
- Pukarua Airport (PUK) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Pukarua Airport (PUK) is Nukutavake Airport (NUK), which is located 134 miles (215 kilometers) WSW of PUK.
- The furthest airport from Pukarua Airport (PUK) is Abha Regional Airport (AHB), which is nearly antipodal to Pukarua Airport (meaning Pukarua Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Abha Regional Airport), and is located 12,415 miles (19,980 kilometers) away in Abha / Khamis Mushait, Saudi Arabia.
- In addition to being known as "Pukarua Airport", another name for PUK is "Aérodrome de Pukarua".
Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):
- 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 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.
- In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
- The airfield was again temporarily shut down from September 1946 – March 1947 and underwent a major construction program to upgrade the temporary wartime facilities to that of a permanent base.
- Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
- In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
- Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
- Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
