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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Canberra Airport (CBR), Canberra, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,672 miles (or 13,956 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 Canberra 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 Canberra 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):

• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• The 12th Air Division moved to Ellsworth on 15 July 1988.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• 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.
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
• 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.
• 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 Canberra Airport (CBR):

• Canberra Airport (CBR) has 2 runways.
• The former Common User Terminal was located on the far eastern side of the building.
• Construction of the Southern Concourse was completed in late 2010 and came into service on 14 November.
• The airport was built up from an old airstrip that was first laid down in the 1920s, not long after the National Capital site was decided.
• Brindabella Airlines has its head office on the airport property.
• The project was given the go ahead by Canberra International Airport executive chairman Terry Snow, to start late 2009.
• Canberra Airport handled 3,206,103 passengers last year.
• The Canberra Spatial Plan released by the ACT Government in March 2004 identified the airport and surrounding areas as being an important centre for future industrial and related development.
• In addition to being known as "Canberra Airport", another name for CBR is "Canberra International Airport".
• The furthest airport from Canberra Airport (CBR) is Horta International Airport (HOR), which is nearly antipodal to Canberra Airport (meaning Canberra Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Horta International Airport), and is located 12,187 miles (19,612 kilometers) away in Horta, Azores, Portugal.
• The closest airport to Canberra Airport (CBR) is Goulburn Airport (GUL), which is located 46 miles (74 kilometers) NE of CBR.
• Over a dozen office buildings have also been built on airport land at Brindabella Business Park and Fairbairn.