Nonstop flight route between Masai Mara, Kenya and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mara Serena Airport (MRE), Masai Mara, Kenya and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,528 miles (or 13,724 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 Mara Serena 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 Mara Serena 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 Mara Serena Airport (MRE):

• In addition to being known as "Mara Serena Airport", another name for MRE is "n/a".
• Mara Serena Airport lies approximately 225 kilometres southwest of Nairobi International Airport, Kenya's largest civilian airport.
• The furthest airport from Mara Serena Airport (MRE) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is located 11,582 miles (18,640 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.
• Mara Serena Airport (MRE) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Mara Serena Airport's high elevation of 5,600 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MRE. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MRE a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Mara Serena Airport (MRE) is Kericho Airport (KEY), which is located 72 miles (116 kilometers) NNE of MRE.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (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 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.