Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kericho, Kenya:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kericho Airport (KEY), Kericho, Kenya would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,479 miles (or 13,646 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 Kericho 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 Kericho 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Military organizations periodically upgrade manpower and machines from time to time to meet new national security requirements and Ellsworth Air Force Base's organizations were no exception.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• In March 1944, heavy bomber operational training ended and the 225th Army Air Force Base Unit began training of replacement personnel for deployed heavy bombardment units in the overseas combat theaters.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.

Facts about Kericho Airport (KEY):

• The furthest airport from Kericho Airport (KEY) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is located 11,632 miles (18,719 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.
• The closest airport to Kericho Airport (KEY) is Kisumu International Airport (KIS), which is located 41 miles (66 kilometers) WNW of KEY.
• Because of Kericho Airport's high elevation of 7,165 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at KEY. Combined with a high temperature, this could make KEY a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Kericho Airport is located in Kericho District, Rift Valley Province, in the town of Kericho, in the southwestern part of Kenya on the map.
• There is no regular, scheduled airline service to Kericho Airport at this time.