Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Hargeisa, Somalia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Hargeisa Egal International Airport (HGA), Hargeisa, Somalia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,198 miles (or 13,193 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 Hargeisa Egal 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 Hargeisa Egal 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):

• After the Army closed their facilities, the military housing at the Nike Integrated Fire Control sites was transferred to control of Ellsworth, and was used as Air Force military family housing until about 1990.
• The 44th Missile Wing, however, had ably accomplished its deterrence mission.
• The 740th AC&W Squadron began operations in 1955 with AN/MPS-7 search radar, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept and warning station.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.

Facts about Hargeisa Egal International Airport (HGA):

• The furthest airport from Hargeisa Egal International Airport (HGA) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is nearly antipodal to Hargeisa Egal International Airport (meaning Hargeisa Egal International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Atuona Airport), and is located 12,225 miles (19,674 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
• Originally a small facility built during the colonial period, the former Hargeisa International Airport was expanded and modernized in the 1980s by the Siad Barre administration so as to accommodate larger aircraft and offer more flight destinations.
• During the events leading up to the Somali Civil War in the early 1990s, the airport's infrastructure was significantly damaged.
• The closest airport to Hargeisa Egal International Airport (HGA) is Borama Airport (BXX), which is located 70 miles (113 kilometers) WNW of HGA.
• Hargeisa Egal International Airport (HGA) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Hargeisa Egal International Airport's high elevation of 4,423 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at HGA. Combined with a high temperature, this could make HGA a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.