Nonstop flight route between Stewart Island, New Zealand and Universal City, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), Stewart Island, New Zealand and Randolph Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (RND), Universal City, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,836 miles (or 12,611 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 Randolph Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio, 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 Randolph Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio. 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The airport is at an elevation of 288 feet above mean sea level.
• Ryan's Creek Aerodrome is a small airstrip on Stewart Island in southern New Zealand.
• Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS) is Invercargill Airport (IVC), which is located 35 miles (57 kilometers) NNE of SZS.

Facts about Randolph Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (RND):

• Randolph AFB is part of Joint Base San Antonio, an amalgamation of the United States Army Fort Sam Houston, the United States Air Force Randolph Air Force Base and Lackland Air Force Base, which were merged on 1 October 2010.
• The Air Corps Act of 1926 mandated that rated pilots comprise 90% of all commissioned officers of the Air Corps.
• The furthest airport from Randolph Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (RND) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,103 miles (17,869 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Like many military installations during World War II, Randolph fielded an intercollegiate football team, nicknamed the Randolph Field Ramblers.
• On 1 April 1952, the Air Force established the Crew Training Air Force with its headquarters at Randolph to administer nine bases and combat crew training wings, including the 3510th.
• In addition to being known as "Randolph Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio", another name for RND is "Randolph AFB".
• The Military Affairs Committee of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce quickly took the forefront in the search for an airfield location, which had to be suited to the airfield design, rather than the other way around as commonly done.
• The closest airport to Randolph Air Force Base Joint Base San Antonio (RND) is San Antonio International Airport (SAT), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) W of RND.