Nonstop flight route between Lihue, Hawaii, United States and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lihue Airport (LIH), Lihue, Hawaii, United States and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,519 miles (or 5,664 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 Lihue 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 Lihue 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 Lihue Airport (LIH):

• Lihue Airport handled 2,416,812 passengers last year.
• Lihue Airport (LIH) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Lihue Airport (LIH) is Princeville Airport (HPV), which is located only 17 miles (28 kilometers) NNW of LIH.
• Because of Lihue Airport's relatively low elevation of 153 feet, planes can take off or land at Lihue 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 Lihue Airport (LIH) is Ghanzi Airport (GNZ), which is nearly antipodal to Lihue Airport (meaning Lihue Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ghanzi Airport), and is located 12,370 miles (19,907 kilometers) away in Ghanzi, Botswana.
• The airport does not serve as a hub for any airline carrier.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• 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.
• 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.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• 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.
• The mission of the 28th Bomb Wing is to deliver decisive combat power for global response.
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.