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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Leribe Airport (LRB), Leribe, Lesotho and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,573 miles (or 15,406 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 Leribe 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 Leribe 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 Leribe Airport (LRB):

• The closest airport to Leribe Airport (LRB) is Moshoeshoe I International Airport (MSU), which is located 52 miles (83 kilometers) SW of LRB.
• Leribe Airport (LRB) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Leribe Airport's high elevation of 5,350 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at LRB. Combined with a high temperature, this could make LRB a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Leribe Airport (LRB) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,824 miles (19,030 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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.
• 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.
• To provide air defense of the base, the United States Army established the Ellsworth AFB Defense Area in 1957 and constructed Nike-Ajax Surface-to-air missile sites for air defense.
• 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.
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• On 1 June 1992, as part of the first major reorganization since the creation of USAF, the Air Force inactivated Strategic Air Command and assigned Ellsworth's organizations ) to the newly activated Air Combat Command.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".