Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Johannesburg, South Africa:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Grand Central Airport (GCJ), Johannesburg, South Africa would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,459 miles (or 15,223 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 Grand Central 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 Grand Central 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 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 was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• 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.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• The 44th Missile Wing, however, had ably accomplished its deterrence mission.
• 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.

Facts about Grand Central Airport (GCJ):

• The closest airport to Grand Central Airport (GCJ) is O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB), which is located only 12 miles (20 kilometers) SSE of GCJ.
• The airfield was started in the 1930s by a group of motor racing enthusiasts who were also interested in flying.
• Because of Grand Central Airport's high elevation of 5,327 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GCJ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GCJ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Grand Central Airport (GCJ) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,992 miles (19,299 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
• Grand Central Airport (GCJ) currently has only 1 runway.