Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Aden, Yemen:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Aden International Airport (ADE), Aden, Yemen would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,019 miles (or 12,906 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base and Aden International Airport, 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base and Aden International Airport. 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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 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.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• 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.

Facts about Aden International Airport (ADE):

• Aden International Airport (ADE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Aden International Airport (ADE) is Ta'izz International Airport (TAI), which is located 84 miles (135 kilometers) NW of ADE.
• Because of Aden International Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Aden International 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 airport is also a Yemeni Air Force base.
• The furthest airport from Aden International Airport (ADE) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is nearly antipodal to Aden International Airport (meaning Aden International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Atuona Airport), and is located 12,091 miles (19,458 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
• The airport was established on the former RAF Khormaksar, which opened in 1917 and closed as an RAF station in 1967.
• In addition to being known as "Aden International Airport", another name for ADE is "مطار عدن الدولي".