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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Sunshine-Coast-Airport (MCY), Marcoola, Queensland, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,134 miles (or 13,091 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 Sunshine-Coast-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 Sunshine-Coast-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 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.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• The 12th Air Division moved to Ellsworth on 15 July 1988.
• 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.
• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.

Facts about Sunshine-Coast-Airport (MCY):

• As of April 2014, the only scheduled domestic routes are to southern state capitals, Sydney and Melbourne, Australia.
• Because of Sunshine-Coast-Airport's relatively low elevation of 15 feet, planes can take off or land at Sunshine-Coast-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 Sunshine Coast Airport is situated at Marcoola 10 km north of Maroochydore, and is owned, operated, managed and developed by the Sunshine Coast Regional Council, which assumed the powers of the former Shire of Maroochy.
• Sunshine-Coast-Airport (MCY) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Sunshine-Coast-Airport (MCY) is La Palma Airport (SPC), which is located 11,859 miles (19,086 kilometers) away in La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain.
• In February 2012, Air New Zealand announced plans to launch a new twice-weekly between Auckland and Sunshine Coast Airport, to operate seasonally from July to September.
• The terminal is modern and of high-quality for a regional airport.
• The closest airport to Sunshine-Coast-Airport (MCY) is Caloundra Airport (CUD), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) S of MCY.
• The airport has two runways.
• The airport master plan proposes building a new 2,450 m Runway 13/31 some time before 2020.