Nonstop flight route between Kudat, Sabah, Malaysia and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kudat Airport (KUD), Kudat, Sabah, Malaysia and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,122 miles (or 13,071 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 Kudat 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 Kudat 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 Kudat Airport (KUD):

• Because of Kudat Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Kudat 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 furthest airport from Kudat Airport (KUD) is Lábrea Airport (LBR), which is nearly antipodal to Kudat Airport (meaning Kudat Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Lábrea Airport), and is located 12,324 miles (19,833 kilometers) away in Lábrea, Amazonas, Brazil.
• The closest airport to Kudat Airport (KUD) is Kota Kinabalu International Airport (BKI), which is located 86 miles (138 kilometers) SW of KUD.
• Kudat Airport (KUD) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Kudat Airport", other names for KUD include "Lapangan Terbang Kudat" and "古达机场".

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• 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.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• 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 activated the 740th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Rapid City AFB on 1 February 1953 under the ADC 31st Air Division.
• The 44th Missile Wing, however, had ably accomplished its deterrence mission.
• After the Army closed their facilities, the military housing at the Nike Integrated Fire Control sites was transferred to control of Ellsworth, and was used as Air Force military family housing until about 1990.
• 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.
• 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.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.