Nonstop flight route between Changde, Hunan, China and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Changde Taohuayuan Airport (CGD), Changde, Hunan, China and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,933 miles (or 11,157 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 Changde Taohuayuan 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 Changde Taohuayuan 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 Changde Taohuayuan Airport (CGD):

• The furthest airport from Changde Taohuayuan Airport (CGD) is Capitán Vicente Almandos Almonacid Airport (IRJ), which is nearly antipodal to Changde Taohuayuan Airport (meaning Changde Taohuayuan Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Capitán Vicente Almandos Almonacid Airport), and is located 12,337 miles (19,855 kilometers) away in La Rioja, Argentina.
• The closest airport to Changde Taohuayuan Airport (CGD) is Zhangjiajie Airport (DYG), which is located 73 miles (118 kilometers) W of CGD.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• 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.
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
• 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 host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• 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.