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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Herat International Airport (HEA), Herat, Afghanistan and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,945 miles (or 11,176 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 Herat International 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 Herat International 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 Herat International Airport (HEA):

• In addition to being known as "Herat International Airport", other names for HEA include "Herat Airport (Herat)" and "Persian: میدان هوایی بین المللی هرات‎".
• Herat International Airport (HEA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport was originally built by engineers from the United States in the late 1950s.
• The closest airport to Herat International Airport (HEA) is Qala i Naw Airport د قلعه نوهوائی ډګر (LQN), which is located 74 miles (119 kilometers) NE of HEA.
• The furthest airport from Herat International Airport (HEA) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,742 miles (18,897 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• The Titan I's life span was short in western South Dakota.
• 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 airfield was again temporarily shut down from September 1946 – March 1947 and underwent a major construction program to upgrade the temporary wartime facilities to that of a permanent base.
• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
• 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.