Nonstop flight route between Niigata, Japan and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from KIJ to RCA:
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- About this route
- KIJ Airport Information
- RCA Airport Information
- Facts about KIJ
- Facts about RCA
- Map of Nearest Airports to KIJ
- List of Nearest Airports to KIJ
- Map of Furthest Airports from KIJ
- List of Furthest Airports from KIJ
- Map of Nearest Airports to RCA
- List of Nearest Airports to RCA
- Map of Furthest Airports from RCA
- List of Furthest Airports from RCA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Niigata Airport (KIJ), Niigata, Japan and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,565 miles (or 8,955 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 Niigata 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 Niigata 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:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | KIJ / RJSN |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Niigata, Japan |
GPS Coordinates: | 37°57'20"N by 139°6'42"E |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 5 feet (2 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from KIJ |
More Information: | KIJ Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | RCA / KRCA |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Rapid City, South Dakota, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 44°8'47"N by 103°4'28"W |
View all routes: | Routes from RCA |
More Information: | RCA Maps & Info |
Facts about Niigata Airport (KIJ):
- Niigata Airport (KIJ) has 2 runways.
- Because of Niigata Airport's relatively low elevation of 5 feet, planes can take off or land at Niigata 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 Niigata Airport (KIJ) is Shonai Airport (SYO), which is located 70 miles (112 kilometers) NNE of KIJ.
- The furthest airport from Niigata Airport (KIJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,682 miles (18,800 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
- In addition to being known as "Niigata Airport", other names for KIJ include "新潟空港" and "Niigata Kūkō".
- Niigata Airport was historically an important gateway for traffic to and from Russia, with scheduled service to Khabarovsk since 1973 and Vladivostok since 1993, which among other purposes were used to export Niigata-area agricultural products to Russia.
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 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.
- When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
- 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.
- On 15 July 1945, the 225th AAFBU was inactivated and Rapid City AAB was placed on standby status as the Army Air Forces began to demobilize.
- An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
- 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.
- In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".