Nonstop flight route between Ghazni, Afghanistan and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ghazni Airport (GZI), Ghazni, Afghanistan and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,043 miles (or 11,335 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 Ghazni 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 Ghazni 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 Ghazni Airport (GZI):

• The furthest airport from Ghazni Airport (GZI) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,978 miles (19,277 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• The closest airport to Ghazni Airport (GZI) is Sardeh Band Airport (SBF), which is located only 19 miles (31 kilometers) SE of GZI.
• Because of Ghazni Airport's high elevation of 7,126 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GZI. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GZI a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Ghazni Airport (GZI) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Ghazni Airport", other names for GZI include "Ghazni Airport (Ghazni)" and "د غزنی نړیوال هوایی ډګر".

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• 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.
• 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.
• In 1986, the base and the 28 BMW made extensive preparations to phase out the aging B-52 fleet and become the second home for the advanced B-1B Lancer.