Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Manas International Airport (FRU), Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,409 miles (or 10,315 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 Manas International 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 Manas International 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.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.

Facts about Manas International Airport (FRU):

• The furthest airport from Manas International Airport (FRU) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,317 miles (18,213 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• In 2004, a new parking ramp was added in front of the passenger terminal to make room for larger refueling and transport aircraft such as the KC-135 and C-17.
• In addition to being known as "Manas International Airport", other names for FRU include "Манас эл аралык аэропорту", "FRU (БИШ)" and "UCFM".
• The airport is operational 24 hours and its ILS system meets ICAO CAT II standards, which enables aircraft operations in low ceiling ) and visibility ).
• Manas International Airport (FRU) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Manas International Airport (FRU) is Almaty International Airport (ALA), which is located 131 miles (211 kilometers) E of FRU.
• In 2012, the airport handled 1,056,000 passengers.