Nonstop flight route between Stewart Island, New Zealand and Valdosta, Georgia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), Stewart Island, New Zealand and Moody Air Force Base (VAD), Valdosta, Georgia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,589 miles (or 13,822 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 Moody 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 Moody 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 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.
• 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 Moody Air Force Base (VAD):

• On 30 June 1975, the Secretary of the Air Force announced that Moody would transfer from ATC to Tactical Air Command on 1 December 1975.
• The furthest airport from Moody Air Force Base (VAD) is Kalbarri Airport (KAX), which is located 11,363 miles (18,286 kilometers) away in Kalbarri, Western Australia, Australia.
• The Air Force reorganized the MAJCOMs at the end of the Cold War, and on 1 June 1992 Moody was reassigned from the inactivating Tactical Air Command to the new Air Combat Command.
• On 8 January 1943, the War Department constituted and activated the 29th Flying Training Wing at Moody and assigned it to the AAF Eastern Flying Training Command.
• The wing executes worldwide close air support, force protection, and combat search and rescue operations in support of humanitarian interests, United States national security and the global war on terrorism.
• The closest airport to Moody Air Force Base (VAD) is Valdosta Regional AirportValdosta Army Auxiliary Airfield (VLD), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) SSW of VAD.
• In 1961, Foreign Pilot Training was transferred to Moody from the closing of the Graham Air Base contract pilot school in Marianna, Florida.
• In addition to being known as "Moody Air Force Base", another name for VAD is "Moody AFB".
• In 1965, the Cessna T-41A, a four-seat, single-engine, propeller-driven training aircraft based on the Cessna 172 arrived at Moody and was used in the initial phases of student training.
• The base had its beginning in 1940 when a group of concerned Valdosta and Lowndes County citizens began searching for a way to assist the expanding defense program.