Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Mount Hotham, Victoria, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Mount Hotham Airport (MHU), Mount Hotham, Victoria, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,824 miles (or 14,201 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 Mount Hotham 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 Mount Hotham 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):

• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• After the Army closed their facilities, the military housing at the Nike Integrated Fire Control sites was transferred to control of Ellsworth, and was used as Air Force military family housing until about 1990.
• Military organizations periodically upgrade manpower and machines from time to time to meet new national security requirements and Ellsworth Air Force Base's organizations were no exception.
• 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.
• 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.
• In March 1994, Ellsworth welcomed the 34th Bomb Squadron, a geographically separated unit that was awaiting airfield upgrades before it could return to its parent organization, the 366th Wing, at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.

Facts about Mount Hotham Airport (MHU):

• The furthest airport from Mount Hotham Airport (MHU) is Flores Airport (FLW), which is nearly antipodal to Mount Hotham Airport (meaning Mount Hotham Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Flores Airport), and is located 12,251 miles (19,715 kilometers) away in Flores Island, Azores, Portugal.
• Mount Hotham Airport (MHU) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Mount Hotham Airport (MHU) is Bairnsdale Aerodrome (BSJ), which is located 59 miles (96 kilometers) SSE of MHU.
• On 8 July 2005, a Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain charter plane crashed into terrain while attempting to make a landing at the airport, killing the pilot and two passengers.
• One airline is looking to recommence services in 2015 with similar aircraft to those used by Qantaslink, but initially with less services.
• Because of Mount Hotham Airport's high elevation of 4,260 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MHU. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MHU a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.