Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kadhdhoo Island, Laamu Atoll, Maldives:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kadhdhoo Airport (KDO), Kadhdhoo Island, Laamu Atoll, Maldives would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,251 miles (or 14,888 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 Kadhdhoo 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 Kadhdhoo 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• 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.
• 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.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.

Facts about Kadhdhoo Airport (KDO):

• In addition to being known as "Kadhdhoo Airport", another name for KDO is "ކައްދޫ އެއަރޕޯޓް".
• The furthest airport from Kadhdhoo Airport (KDO) is Seymour Airport (GPS), which is located 11,313 miles (18,206 kilometers) away in Baltra Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
• The closest airport to Kadhdhoo Airport (KDO) is Thimarafushi Airport (TMF), which is located 32 miles (52 kilometers) NW of KDO.
• The airport resides at an elevation of 4 feet above mean sea level.
• From its initial conception the project ranks among the development program initiated by President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom the project implementation was supervised by the Minister of Trade and Industries-cum-Deputy Minister of Defense and National Security, Ilyas Ibrahim.
• Because of Kadhdhoo Airport's relatively low elevation of 4 feet, planes can take off or land at Kadhdhoo 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.
• When the Maldivian president Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom assumed office in 1978, some of the most pressing problems faced by the country were the immense difficulty involved in traveling between Malé and the outlying islands and the adverse effects in the Maldivian fishing industry due to illegal entry of foreign fishing vessels into the Maldivian territorial waters.
• The project was implemented totally using local expertise, and though it was initiated under the Government’s budget alone, additional financial assistance was received from outside, notably from the United Nations Development Program, the International Civil Aviation Organization and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ Fund.
• Excavation for the runway began on 11 January 1982, and the final layer of the runway was completed on 6 April 1986.
• Kadhdhoo Airport (KDO) currently has only 1 runway.