Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Gaya, India:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Gaya Airport (GAY), Gaya, India would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,650 miles (or 12,311 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 Gaya 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 Gaya 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".
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• 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 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.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• 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.
• 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 host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• The 12th Air Division moved to Ellsworth on 15 July 1988.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.

Facts about Gaya Airport (GAY):

• Gaya Airport (GAY) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Gaya Airport (GAY) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,529 miles (18,554 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• Because of Gaya Airport's relatively low elevation of 380 feet, planes can take off or land at Gaya 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.
• Minister of State for Civil Aviation K C Venugopal had informed the Rajya Sabha on 28 August 2013 that Airports Authority of India has requested the government of Bihar for acquisition of around 200 acres for expansion of Gaya airport.
• The closest airport to Gaya Airport (GAY) is Jai Prakash Narayan International Airport Patna Airport (PAT), which is located 59 miles (95 kilometers) N of GAY.