Nonstop flight route between Matam, Senegal and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ouro Sogui Airport (MAX), Matam, Senegal and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,461 miles (or 8,788 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 Ouro Sogui 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 Ouro Sogui 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 Ouro Sogui Airport (MAX):

• The furthest airport from Ouro Sogui Airport (MAX) is Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON), which is nearly antipodal to Ouro Sogui Airport (meaning Ouro Sogui Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Santo-Pekoa International Airport), and is located 12,400 miles (19,956 kilometers) away in Luganville, Vanuatu.
• The closest airport to Ouro Sogui Airport (MAX) is Kaédi Airport (KED), which is located 41 miles (66 kilometers) NNW of MAX.
• Because of Ouro Sogui Airport's relatively low elevation of 85 feet, planes can take off or land at Ouro Sogui 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.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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 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.
• The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• The 12th Air Division moved to Ellsworth on 15 July 1988.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• 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.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.