Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Dera Ismail Khan Airport (DSK), Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,168 miles (or 11,536 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 Dera Ismail Khan 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 Dera Ismail Khan 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• Air Defense Command activated the 740th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Rapid City AFB on 1 February 1953 under the ADC 31st Air Division.
• 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 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.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.

Facts about Dera Ismail Khan Airport (DSK):

• Because of Dera Ismail Khan Airport's relatively low elevation of 594 feet, planes can take off or land at Dera Ismail Khan 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.
• The furthest airport from Dera Ismail Khan Airport (DSK) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is nearly antipodal to Dera Ismail Khan Airport (meaning Dera Ismail Khan Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Mataveri International Airport), and is located 12,108 miles (19,487 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• Dera Ismail Khan Airport (DSK) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Dera Ismail Khan Airport (DSK) is PAF Base M.M. Alam (MWD), which is located 60 miles (96 kilometers) NE of DSK.
• In addition to being known as "Dera Ismail Khan Airport", another name for DSK is "RYK".