Nonstop flight route between Stewart Island, New Zealand and Mountain Home, Idaho, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), Stewart Island, New Zealand and Mountain Home Air Force Base (MUO), Mountain Home, Idaho, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,752 miles (or 12,476 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 Mountain Home 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 Mountain Home 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):

• In 1990 a hill at one end of the strip was leveled.
• The closest airport to Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS) is Invercargill Airport (IVC), which is located 35 miles (57 kilometers) NNE of SZS.
• 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.
• In 2000 Southern Air 1997 Ltd was bought by Stewart Island Flights, which uses Islanders FXE and FWZ, Cessna A185E Skywagon JEM and Piper PA32 Cherokee Sixs RTS and DIV aircraft in its service.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Mountain Home Air Force Base (MUO):

• Operations continued unchanged for several years.
• The furthest airport from Mountain Home Air Force Base (MUO) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,858 miles (17,474 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• Instead of training B-17 crews, Mountain Home airmen began training crews for the B-24 Liberator.
• The closest airport to Mountain Home Air Force Base (MUO) is Boise Airport (BOI), which is located 40 miles (64 kilometers) NNW of MUO.
• The host unit at Mountain Home since 1972 has been the 366th Fighter Wing of the Air Combat Command, nicknamed the "Gunfighters." The base's primary mission is to provide combat airpower and combat support capabilities to respond to and sustain worldwide contingency operations.
• In early May 1953, the major construction on the base was completed, and SAC was able to use its long runway for strategic bomber operations.
• Mountain Home AFB is the home of the 366th Fighter Wing, which reports to Air Combat Command.
• In addition to being known as "Mountain Home Air Force Base", another name for MUO is "Mountain Home AFB".
• In 1959, construction of three HGM-25A Titan I missile sites began in the local area.