Nonstop flight route between Mbandaka, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mbandaka Airport (MDK), Mbandaka, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,732 miles (or 12,444 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 Mbandaka 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 Mbandaka 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 Mbandaka Airport (MDK):

• In addition to being known as "Mbandaka Airport", other names for MDK include "Aéroport de Mbandaka" and "Mbandaka Airport".
• Mbandaka Airport (MDK) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Mbandaka Airport (MDK) is Impfondo Airport (ION), which is located 110 miles (176 kilometers) N of MDK.
• The furthest airport from Mbandaka Airport (MDK) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is nearly antipodal to Mbandaka Airport (meaning Mbandaka Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cassidy International Airport), and is located 12,105 miles (19,481 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• Ellsworth Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 10 miles northeast of Rapid City, South Dakota just north of Box Elder, South Dakota.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• The 12th Air Division moved to Ellsworth on 15 July 1988.
• In March 1944, heavy bomber operational training ended and the 225th Army Air Force Base Unit began training of replacement personnel for deployed heavy bombardment units in the overseas combat theaters.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• 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 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.
• The base experienced one of its worst peacetime tragedies in March 1953 when an RB-36 and its entire crew of 23 crashed in Newfoundland while returning from a routine exercise in Europe.
• 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.