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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Hobart International Airport (HBA), Hobart, Tasmania, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,012 miles (or 14,503 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 Hobart International 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 Hobart International 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".
• 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.
• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.

Facts about Hobart International Airport (HBA):

• There are two domestic freight areas operating at the airport, catering for Australian air Express, Toll Air and Virgin Australia.
• Because of Hobart International Airport's relatively low elevation of 13 feet, planes can take off or land at Hobart International 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 landing length required at Hobart for a Boeing 747 at maximum operational landing weight is 2,400 m, a minimum runway extension of 150 m would be beneficial to the operation of the airport.
• Hobart International Airport (HBA) currently has only 1 runway.
• During December 2007, the Tasmanian Government sold the Tasmanian Ports Corporation-owned subsidiary for A$350 million to the Tasmanian Gateway Consortium, a private consortium made up of Macquarie Capital and Tasmania's public sector superannuation fund, the Retirement Benefits Fund.
• The furthest airport from Hobart International Airport (HBA) is Corvo Airport (CVU), which is nearly antipodal to Hobart International Airport (meaning Hobart International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Corvo Airport), and is located 12,207 miles (19,645 kilometers) away in Corvo Island, Azores, Portugal.
• The closest airport to Hobart International Airport (HBA) is Launceston Airport (LST), which is located 91 miles (146 kilometers) N of HBA.
• Previous airlines to fly from the airport include Ansett Australia, Compass Airlines, Tasair, Trans Australia Airlines and Air New Zealand.
• Hobart International Airport handled 1,855,849 passengers last year.