Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Ardmore, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Ardmore Airport (AMZ), Ardmore, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,589 miles (or 12,213 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base and Ardmore 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base and Ardmore 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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 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 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.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• 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.
• Air Defense Command activated the 740th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Rapid City AFB on 1 February 1953 under the ADC 31st Air Division.

Facts about Ardmore Airport (AMZ):

• Ardmore Airport (AMZ) has 3 runways.
• The airfield has a circuit height of 1,100 ft for fixed wing aircraft, 800 ft for helicopters.
• Ardmore Airport is an airport 3 NM southeast of Manurewa in Auckland, New Zealand.
• The furthest airport from Ardmore Airport (AMZ) is Málaga Airport (AGP), which is nearly antipodal to Ardmore Airport (meaning Ardmore Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Málaga Airport), and is located 12,399 miles (19,954 kilometers) away in Málaga, Spain.
• Because of Ardmore Airport's relatively low elevation of 111 feet, planes can take off or land at Ardmore 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 Ardmore Airport (AMZ) is Auckland Airport (AKL), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) W of AMZ.