Nonstop flight route between Bagram, Afghanistan and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Bagram Airfield (OAI), Bagram, Afghanistan and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,951 miles (or 11,186 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 Bagram Airfield 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 Bagram Airfield 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 Bagram Airfield (OAI):

• By 2007 Bagram has become the size of a small town, with traffic jams and many commercial shops selling goods from clothes to food.
• Bagram Airfield (OAI) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Bagram Airfield", other names for OAI include "Bagram Airport (Bagram)" and "د بګرام هوائی ډګر".
• The furthest airport from Bagram Airfield (OAI) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,894 miles (19,141 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• Control of the base was contested from 1999 onward between the Northern Alliance and Taliban, often with each controlling territory on opposing ends of the base.
• Because of Bagram Airfield's high elevation of 4,895 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at OAI. Combined with a high temperature, this could make OAI a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In March 2009, a car bomb exploded somewhere outside Bagram Airfield wounding three civilian workers.
• Early on the morning of 30 December 2010, Taliban militants fired two rockets on Bagram though no casualties were reported.
• The closest airport to Bagram Airfield (OAI) is Kabul International Airport (KBL), which is located 26 miles (43 kilometers) S of OAI.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• After the Army closed their facilities, the military housing at the Nike Integrated Fire Control sites was transferred to control of Ellsworth, and was used as Air Force military family housing until about 1990.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• 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.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• 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.
• On 1 June 1971, SAC deactivated the 821st Strategic Aerospace Division and by October of that year, an upgraded LGM-30F Minuteman II also replaced the Minuteman I missiles.