Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Guizhou Province, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Bijie Feixiong Airport (BFJ), Guizhou Province, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,184 miles (or 11,562 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 Bijie Feixiong 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 Bijie Feixiong 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 740th AC&W Squadron began operations in 1955 with AN/MPS-7 search radar, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept and warning station.
• In 1986, the base and the 28 BMW made extensive preparations to phase out the aging B-52 fleet and become the second home for the advanced B-1B Lancer.
• Ellsworth Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 10 miles northeast of Rapid City, South Dakota just north of Box Elder, South Dakota.
• 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.
• The base experienced one of its worst peacetime tragedies in March 1953 when an RB-36 and its entire crew of 23 crashed in Newfoundland while returning from a routine exercise in Europe.
• 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.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.

Facts about Bijie Feixiong Airport (BFJ):

• The closest airport to Bijie Feixiong Airport (BFJ) is Anshun Huangguoshu Airport (AVA), which is located 80 miles (129 kilometers) SSE of BFJ.
• The furthest airport from Bijie Feixiong Airport (BFJ) is Chañaral Airport (CNR), which is nearly antipodal to Bijie Feixiong Airport (meaning Bijie Feixiong Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chañaral Airport), and is located 12,176 miles (19,595 kilometers) away in Chañaral, Atacama Region, Chile.
• In addition to being known as "Bijie Feixiong Airport", other names for BFJ include "毕节飞雄机场", "Bìjié Fēixióng Jīchǎng" and "ZUBJ".
• Bijie Feixiong Airport (BFJ) currently has only 1 runway.