Nonstop flight route between Stewart Island, New Zealand and Dayton, Ohio, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), Stewart Island, New Zealand and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (FFO), Dayton, Ohio, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,909 miles (or 14,337 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 Ryan's Creek Aerodrome and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, 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 Ryan's Creek Aerodrome and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. 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 Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS):

• The closest airport to Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS) is Invercargill Airport (IVC), which is located 35 miles (57 kilometers) NNE of SZS.
• In 1990 a hill at one end of the strip was leveled.
• The airport is at an elevation of 288 feet above mean sea level.
• In the mid-1980s Stewart Island Air Services changed its name to Southern Air Limited with Keith Smith, Joe Cave, Bill Haslett and Sam Nicol as shareholders.
• Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is nearly antipodal to Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (meaning Ryan's Creek Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from A Coruña Airport), and is located 12,135 miles (19,529 kilometers) away in A Coruña, Spain.
• Because of Ryan's Creek Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 288 feet, planes can take off or land at Ryan's Creek Aerodrome 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.

Facts about Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (FFO):

• The NORAD Manual Air Defense Control Center for 58th Air Division interceptors was at Wright-Patterson AFB by 1958, and Brookfield Air Force Station near the Pennsylvania state line became operational as an April 1952-January 1963 sub-base of WPAFB.
• Wright-Patterson AFB is "one of the largest, most diverse, and organizationally complex bases in the Air Force" with a long history of flight test spanning from the Wright Brothers into the Space Age.
• The furthest airport from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (FFO) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,306 miles (18,195 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Project Sign was WPAFB's T-2 Intelligence investigations of unidentified flying objects reports that began in July 1947 In March 1952, ATIC established an Aerial Phenomena Group to study reported UFO sightings, including those in Washington, DC, in 1952.
• The closest airport to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (FFO) is James M. Cox Dayton International Airport (DAY), which is located only 11 miles (17 kilometers) WNW of FFO.
• World War I transfers of land that later became WPAFB include 2,075-acre along the Mad River leased to the Army by the Miami Conservancy District, the adjacent 40 acres purchased by the Army from the District for the Fairfield Aviation General Supply Depot, and a 254-acre complex for McCook Field located just north of downtown Dayton between Keowee Street and the Great Miami River.
• Wright-Patterson AFB was established in 1948 as a merger of Patterson and Wright Fields.
• The area's World War II Army Air Fields had employment increase from approximately 3,700 in December 1939 to over 50,000 at the war's peak.
• In addition to being known as "Wright-Patterson Air Force Base", another name for FFO is "Wright-Patterson AFB".