Nonstop flight route between Airlie Beach, Australia and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Whitsunday Airport (WSY), Airlie Beach, Australia and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,072 miles (or 12,990 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 Whitsunday Airport and Ellsworth 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 Whitsunday Airport and Ellsworth 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 Whitsunday Airport (WSY):

• The furthest airport from Whitsunday Airport (WSY) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,982 miles (19,283 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
• Because of Whitsunday Airport's relatively low elevation of 40 feet, planes can take off or land at Whitsunday Airport 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 addition to being known as "Whitsunday Airport", another name for WSY is "Shute Harbour Airport".
• Whitsunday Airport (WSY) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Whitsunday Airport (WSY) is Great Barrier Reef Airport (HTI), which is located only 14 miles (22 kilometers) ESE of WSY.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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.
• To provide air defense of the base, the United States Army established the Ellsworth AFB Defense Area in 1957 and constructed Nike-Ajax Surface-to-air missile sites for air defense.
• On 1 June 1992, as part of the first major reorganization since the creation of USAF, the Air Force inactivated Strategic Air Command and assigned Ellsworth's organizations ) to the newly activated Air Combat Command.
• 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.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• The airfield was again temporarily shut down from September 1946 – March 1947 and underwent a major construction program to upgrade the temporary wartime facilities to that of a permanent base.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".