Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kavieng, New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kavieng Airport (KVG), Kavieng, New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,139 miles (or 11,488 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 Kavieng 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 Kavieng 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):

• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• In 1986, the base and the 28 BMW made extensive preparations to phase out the aging B-52 fleet and become the second home for the advanced B-1B Lancer.
• 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.
• The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• 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.
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.

Facts about Kavieng Airport (KVG):

• The closest airport to Kavieng Airport (KVG) is Emirau Airport (EMI), which is located 87 miles (139 kilometers) NW of KVG.
• The furthest airport from Kavieng Airport (KVG) is Governador Carlos Wilson Airport (FEN), which is located 11,939 miles (19,214 kilometers) away in Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco, Brazil.
• Kavieng Airport (KVG) currently has only 1 runway.
• Kavieng airport was there before the Japanese invasion.
• Because of Kavieng Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Kavieng 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.
• It is officially an international airport, but is yet to be used for regular commercial international flights.