Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Windhoek, Namibia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Eros Airport (ERS), Windhoek, Namibia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,769 miles (or 14,112 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 Eros 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 Eros 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 addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• The base experienced one of its worst peacetime tragedies in March 1953 when an RB-36 and its entire crew of 23 crashed in Newfoundland while returning from a routine exercise in Europe.
• 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 deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• 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.
• On 1 June 1971, SAC deactivated the 821st Strategic Aerospace Division and by October of that year, an upgraded LGM-30F Minuteman II also replaced the Minuteman I missiles.

Facts about Eros Airport (ERS):

• Eros Airport (ERS) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Eros Airport", another name for ERS is "Windhoek Eros Airport".
• The closest airport to Eros Airport (ERS) is Hosea Kutako International Airport (WDH), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) ENE of ERS.
• In January 2008, a Cessna 210 crashed after take off killing the pilot and all 6 tourists on board.
• The furthest airport from Eros Airport (ERS) is PMRF Barking Sands (BKH), which is nearly antipodal to Eros Airport (meaning Eros Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from PMRF Barking Sands), and is located 12,232 miles (19,686 kilometers) away in Kekaha, Hawaii, United States.
• Eros is an alternate for Windhoek International Airport in VMC conditions.
• Because of Eros Airport's high elevation of 5,575 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ERS. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ERS a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.