Nonstop flight route between Izumo, Shimane, Japan and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Izumo Airport (IZO), Izumo, Shimane, Japan and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,916 miles (or 9,521 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 Izumo 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 Izumo 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 Izumo Airport (IZO):

• The closest airport to Izumo Airport (IZO) is Miho-Yonago Airport (YGJ), which is located 20 miles (33 kilometers) ENE of IZO.
• Izumo Airport (IZO) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Izumo Airport", other names for IZO include "出雲空港" and "Izumo Kūkō".
• The furthest airport from Izumo Airport (IZO) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Izumo Airport (meaning Izumo Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,066 miles (19,419 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• Because of Izumo Airport's relatively low elevation of 6 feet, planes can take off or land at Izumo 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.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• The 740th AC&W Squadron began operations in 1955 with AN/MPS-7 search radar, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept and warning station.
• 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.
• Military organizations periodically upgrade manpower and machines from time to time to meet new national security requirements and Ellsworth Air Force Base's organizations were no exception.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• On 1 June 1971, SAC deactivated the 821st Strategic Aerospace Division and by October of that year, an upgraded LGM-30F Minuteman II also replaced the Minuteman I missiles.
• On 2 January 1942, the U.S.