Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Dien Bien Phu Airport (DIN), Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,617 miles (or 12,258 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 Dien Bien Phu 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 Dien Bien Phu 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.

Facts about Dien Bien Phu Airport (DIN):

• The closest airport to Dien Bien Phu Airport (DIN) is Oudomsay Airport (ODY), which is located 82 miles (132 kilometers) SW of DIN.
• In addition to being known as "Dien Bien Phu Airport", another name for DIN is "Sân bay Điện Biên Phủ".
• Dien Bien Phu Airport (DIN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Dien Bien Phu Airport (DIN) is Carolina Airport (CLN), which is located 11,998 miles (19,308 kilometers) away in Carolina, Maranhão, Brazil.