Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Dali, Yunnan, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Dali Airport (DLU), Dali, Yunnan, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,392 miles (or 11,896 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 Dali 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 Dali 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):

• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• 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 addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• On 15 July 1945, the 225th AAFBU was inactivated and Rapid City AAB was placed on standby status as the Army Air Forces began to demobilize.

Facts about Dali Airport (DLU):

• The furthest airport from Dali Airport (DLU) is Chañaral Airport (CNR), which is located 11,871 miles (19,105 kilometers) away in Chañaral, Atacama Region, Chile.
• Because of Dali Airport's high elevation of 7,050 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at DLU. Combined with a high temperature, this could make DLU a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Dali Airport", other names for DLU include "大理机场" and "Dàlǐ Jīchǎng".
• Dali Airport (DLU) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Dali Airport (DLU) is Lijiang Sanyi Airport (LJG), which is located 71 miles (115 kilometers) N of DLU.
• Dali Airport handled 274,486 passengers last year.