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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Adelaide Airport (ADL), Adelaide, South Australia, Australia and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,171 miles (or 14,760 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 Adelaide 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 Adelaide 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 Adelaide Airport (ADL):

• An annexe to one of the large hangars at the airport served as a passenger terminal until the Commonwealth Government provided funds for the construction of a temporary building.
• Adelaide Airport handled 7,337,000 passengers last year.
• The new control tower opened in early 2012.
• Adelaide Airport (ADL) has 2 runways.
• Because of Adelaide Airport's relatively low elevation of 20 feet, planes can take off or land at Adelaide 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.
• The closest airport to Adelaide Airport (ADL) is Kingscote Airport (KGC), which is located 78 miles (125 kilometers) SW of ADL.
• The first Qantas A380, VH-OQA "Nancy Bird Walton", made a historic landing at the airport on 27 September 2008, enthralling several thousand spectators who had gathered to catch a glimpse of the giant aircraft.
• The furthest airport from Adelaide Airport (ADL) is Flores Airport (FLW), which is located 11,789 miles (18,972 kilometers) away in Flores Island, Azores, Portugal.
• Plans were announced for an expansion of the terminal in July 2007, including more aerobridges and demolition of the old International Terminal.

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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• The mission of the 28th Bomb Wing is to deliver decisive combat power for global response.