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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Hokitika Airport (HKK), Hokitika, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,001 miles (or 12,876 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 Hokitika 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 Hokitika 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 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.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• 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.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• On 15 July 1945, the 225th AAFBU was inactivated and Rapid City AAB was placed on standby status as the Army Air Forces began to demobilize.
• 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.

Facts about Hokitika Airport (HKK):

• Air Travel Ltd was the first airline in New Zealand to fly scheduled air services.
• The furthest airport from Hokitika Airport (HKK) is Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ), which is nearly antipodal to Hokitika Airport (meaning Hokitika Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Santiago de Compostela Airport), and is located 12,404 miles (19,962 kilometers) away in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
• The Pavement Construction Number is 20 which corresponds to an ability to bare aircraft up to about 84,000 lb or 38,000 kg
• Hokitika Airport (HKK) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Hokitika Airport (HKK) is Greymouth Airport (GMN), which is located 20 miles (33 kilometers) NNE of HKK.
• The grass surfaces and susceptibility to flooding of Hokitika’s Southside airfield were always problematic.
• Because of Hokitika Airport's relatively low elevation of 146 feet, planes can take off or land at Hokitika 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.