Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Cam Ranh, Khánh Hòa, Vietnam:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Cam Ranh International Airport (CXR), Cam Ranh, Khánh Hòa, Vietnam would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,060 miles (or 12,971 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 Cam Ranh 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 Cam Ranh 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):

• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• 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.
• 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 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 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.

Facts about Cam Ranh International Airport (CXR):

• On May 19, 2004, after major reconstruction, the airport received its first commercial flight from Hanoi.
• The airport resides at an elevation of 40 feet above mean sea level.
• Because of Cam Ranh International Airport's relatively low elevation of 40 feet, planes can take off or land at Cam Ranh 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.
• In addition to being known as "Cam Ranh International Airport", another name for CXR is "Sân bay Quốc tế Cam Ranh".
• Cam Ranh International Airport (CXR) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Cam Ranh International Airport (CXR) is Iberia Airport (IBP), which is nearly antipodal to Cam Ranh International Airport (meaning Cam Ranh International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Iberia Airport), and is located 12,340 miles (19,860 kilometers) away in Iberia, Peru.
• In 1972, the base was turned over to the South Vietnamese government.
• The closest airport to Cam Ranh International Airport (CXR) is Lien Khuong Airport (DLI), which is located 60 miles (96 kilometers) WSW of CXR.
• Cam Ranh International Airport handled 1,509,212 passengers last year.