Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Hamadan, Iran:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Hamadan Airport (HDM), Hamadan, Iran would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,694 miles (or 10,773 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 Hamadan 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 Hamadan 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 15 July 1945, the 225th AAFBU was inactivated and Rapid City AAB was placed on standby status as the Army Air Forces began to demobilize.
• In 1986, the base and the 28 BMW made extensive preparations to phase out the aging B-52 fleet and become the second home for the advanced B-1B Lancer.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• 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 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.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.

Facts about Hamadan Airport (HDM):

• The furthest airport from Hamadan Airport (HDM) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is located 11,597 miles (18,663 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.
• The closest airport to Hamadan Airport (HDM) is Shahid Ashrafi Esfahani Airport (KSH), which is located 87 miles (140 kilometers) WSW of HDM.
• Because of Hamadan Airport's high elevation of 5,755 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at HDM. Combined with a high temperature, this could make HDM a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Hamadan Airport (HDM) currently has only 1 runway.