Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Qamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from RCA to BPX:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- RCA Airport Information
- BPX Airport Information
- Facts about RCA
- Facts about BPX
- Map of Nearest Airports to RCA
- List of Nearest Airports to RCA
- Map of Furthest Airports from RCA
- List of Furthest Airports from RCA
- Map of Nearest Airports to BPX
- List of Nearest Airports to BPX
- Map of Furthest Airports from BPX
- List of Furthest Airports from BPX
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX), Qamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,121 miles (or 11,459 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 Qamdo Bamda 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 Qamdo Bamda Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | RCA / KRCA |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Rapid City, South Dakota, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 44°8'47"N by 103°4'28"W |
View all routes: | Routes from RCA |
More Information: | RCA Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | BPX / ZUBD |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Qamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China |
GPS Coordinates: | 30°33'12"N by 97°6'30"E |
Area Served: | Qamdo, Tibet, China |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 14436 feet (4,400 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from BPX |
More Information: | BPX Maps & Info |
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.
- 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 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 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.
- 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.
- In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
- An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
Facts about Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX):
- In addition to being known as "Qamdo Bamda Airport", other names for BPX include "昌都邦达机场" and "Chāngdū Bāngdá Jīchǎng".
- Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX) currently has only 1 runway.
- The airport is 2.5 hours by mountain road from the county seat of Qamdo.
- The furthest airport from Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX) is Viña del Mar Airport (KNA), which is located 11,747 miles (18,904 kilometers) away in Viña del Mar, Chile.
- Because of Qamdo Bamda Airport's high elevation of 14,436 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at BPX. Combined with a high temperature, this could make BPX a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- The closest airport to Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX) is Yushu Batang Airport (YUS), which is located 158 miles (254 kilometers) N of BPX.
- At an elevation of 4,334 m above sea level, Qamdo Airport was formerly the highest airport in the world.