Nonstop flight route between Lebakeng, Lesotho and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lebakeng Airport (LEF), Lebakeng, Lesotho and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,643 miles (or 15,519 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 Lebakeng 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 Lebakeng 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 Lebakeng Airport (LEF):

• The closest airport to Lebakeng Airport (LEF) is Lesobeng Airport (LES), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) WNW of LEF.
• Lebakeng Airport (LEF) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Lebakeng Airport's high elevation of 6,040 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at LEF. Combined with a high temperature, this could make LEF a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Lebakeng Airport (LEF) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,744 miles (18,900 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• 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.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• 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.
• 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.
• Ellsworth Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 10 miles northeast of Rapid City, South Dakota just north of Box Elder, South Dakota.
• The 12th Air Division moved to Ellsworth on 15 July 1988.
• 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 addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".