Nonstop flight route between Jolo, Sulu, Philippines and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Jolo Airport (JOL), Jolo, Sulu, Philippines and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,018 miles (or 12,904 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 Jolo 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 Jolo 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 Jolo Airport (JOL):

• The furthest airport from Jolo Airport (JOL) is Maués Airport (MBZ), which is nearly antipodal to Jolo Airport (meaning Jolo Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Maués Airport), and is located 12,231 miles (19,683 kilometers) away in Maués, Amazonas, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Jolo Airport (JOL) is Zamboanga International Airport (ZAM), which is located 94 miles (151 kilometers) NE of JOL.
• In addition to being known as "Jolo Airport", another name for JOL is "Paliparan ng Jolo".
• A three million-dollar expansion project, financed by the United States, seeks to rehabilitate the old airport by expanding the current runway to over 2,000 meters, enabling aircraft as large as the Boeing 737 to land at the airport.
• Because of Jolo Airport's relatively low elevation of 118 feet, planes can take off or land at Jolo 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.
• Jolo Airport handled 18,749 passengers last year.
• Jolo Airport (JOL) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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 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 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.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.