Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Hualien, Taiwan, Republic of China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Hualien Airport (HUN), Hualien, Taiwan, Republic of China would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,944 miles (or 11,176 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 Hualien 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 Hualien 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• The Titan I's life span was short in western South Dakota.
• To provide air defense of the base, the United States Army established the Ellsworth AFB Defense Area in 1957 and constructed Nike-Ajax Surface-to-air missile sites for air defense.
• 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 host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• 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.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.

Facts about Hualien Airport (HUN):

• In addition to being known as "Hualien Airport", other names for HUN include "花蓮航空站花蓮機場" and "Huālián HángkōngzhànHuālián Jīchǎng".
• The furthest airport from Hualien Airport (HUN) is Clorinda Airport (CLX), which is nearly antipodal to Hualien Airport (meaning Hualien Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Clorinda Airport), and is located 12,339 miles (19,858 kilometers) away in Clorinda, Formosa, Argentina.
• Because Hualien City is a popular gateway into Taroko National Park, the airport became too small and outdated for the growing number of tourists.
• Hualien Airport (HUN) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Hualien Airport's relatively low elevation of 52 feet, planes can take off or land at Hualien 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.
• The closest airport to Hualien Airport (HUN) is Taichung Airport(Taichung Ching Chuan Kang Airport) (RMQ), which is located 65 miles (105 kilometers) WNW of HUN.