Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Darwaz, Badakhshan, Afghanistan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Darwaz Airport (DAZ), Darwaz, Badakhshan, Afghanistan would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,717 miles (or 10,809 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 Darwaz 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 Darwaz 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 airfield was again temporarily shut down from September 1946 – March 1947 and underwent a major construction program to upgrade the temporary wartime facilities to that of a permanent base.
• 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 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.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• 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".
• Internationally, the destruction of the Berlin Wall in October 1989 symbolized the imminent demise of the Soviet Union over the next several months.

Facts about Darwaz Airport (DAZ):

• The furthest airport from Darwaz Airport (DAZ) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,656 miles (18,759 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• Because of Darwaz Airport's high elevation of 4,331 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at DAZ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make DAZ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Darwaz Airport", another name for DAZ is "Darwaz Airport (Darwaz)".
• The closest airport to Darwaz Airport (DAZ) is Khwahan Airport (KWH), which is located 54 miles (87 kilometers) SW of DAZ.
• Darwaz Airport (DAZ) currently has only 1 runway.