Nonstop flight route between Kushiro, Hokkaidō, Japan and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kushiro Airport (KUH), Kushiro, Hokkaidō, Japan and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,125 miles (or 8,248 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 Kushiro 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 Kushiro 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 Kushiro Airport (KUH):

• In addition to being known as "Kushiro Airport", other names for KUH include "釧路空港" and "Kushiro Kūkō".
• International charter flights to Kushiro began in 2000 and have operated from South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
• Kushiro Airport (KUH) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Kushiro Airport (KUH) is Nakashibetsu Airport (SHB), which is located 53 miles (86 kilometers) NE of KUH.
• Because of Kushiro Airport's relatively low elevation of 311 feet, planes can take off or land at Kushiro 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 Kushiro Airport (KUH) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,268 miles (18,133 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• There is no rail link

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".
• 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.
• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• 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.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• 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 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.