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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Emerald Airport (EMD), Emerald, Queensland, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,245 miles (or 13,269 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 Emerald 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 Emerald 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• On 1 June 1992, as part of the first major reorganization since the creation of USAF, the Air Force inactivated Strategic Air Command and assigned Ellsworth's organizations ) to the newly activated Air Combat Command.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• 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.
• 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.
• In March 1944, heavy bomber operational training ended and the 225th Army Air Force Base Unit began training of replacement personnel for deployed heavy bombardment units in the overseas combat theaters.

Facts about Emerald Airport (EMD):

• During this refurbishment, a new flight information system was created which is now displayed throughout the airport and online.
• Emerald Airport (EMD) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Emerald Airport (EMD) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,818 miles (19,019 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
• The closest airport to Emerald Airport (EMD) is Blackwater Airport (BLT), which is located 40 miles (64 kilometers) E of EMD.
• Emerald Airport was one of more than 21 regional Australian airports assessed by Virgin Australia for its viability.
• Because of Emerald Airport's relatively low elevation of 624 feet, planes can take off or land at Emerald 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.
• Emerald Airport is currently serviced by QantasLink Dash 8 Q400's flying an average of five flights per day on weekdays, and three flights per day on weekends.
• Emerald Airport was ranked 37th in Australia for the number of revenue passengers served in financial year 2010-2011.