Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Amami Island, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Amami Airport (ASJ), Amami Island, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,417 miles (or 10,326 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 Amami 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 Amami 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Amami Airport (ASJ):

• The closest airport to Amami Airport (ASJ) is Kikai Airport (KKX), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) ESE of ASJ.
• In addition to being known as "Amami Airport", other names for ASJ include "奄美空港" and "Amami Kūkō".
• The furthest airport from Amami Airport (ASJ) is Antônio Correia Pinto de Macedo Airport (LAJ), which is nearly antipodal to Amami Airport (meaning Amami Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Antônio Correia Pinto de Macedo Airport), and is located 12,392 miles (19,943 kilometers) away in Lages, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
• Because of Amami Airport's relatively low elevation of 14 feet, planes can take off or land at Amami 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.
• Amami Airport (ASJ) currently has only 1 runway.