Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Chaoyang, Liaoning, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Chaoyang Airport (CHG), Chaoyang, Liaoning, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,932 miles (or 9,546 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 Chaoyang 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 Chaoyang 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 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.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• 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 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.
• 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".

Facts about Chaoyang Airport (CHG):

• Chaoyang Airport (CHG) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Chaoyang Airport", other names for CHG include "朝阳机场" and "Chāoyáng Jīchǎng".
• The closest airport to Chaoyang Airport (CHG) is Jinzhou Xiaolingzi Airport (JNZ), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) SE of CHG.
• The furthest airport from Chaoyang Airport (CHG) is Gobernador Edgardo Castello Airport (VDM), which is nearly antipodal to Chaoyang Airport (meaning Chaoyang Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Gobernador Edgardo Castello Airport), and is located 12,252 miles (19,718 kilometers) away in Viedma, Argentina.
• Because of Chaoyang Airport's relatively low elevation of 568 feet, planes can take off or land at Chaoyang 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.