Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Khost, Afghanistan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Khost Airport (KHT), Khost, Afghanistan would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,065 miles (or 11,371 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 Khost 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 Khost 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):

• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• 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 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 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.
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• 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.
• 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.
• The mission of the 28th Bomb Wing is to deliver decisive combat power for global response.
• 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.

Facts about Khost Airport (KHT):

• The furthest airport from Khost Airport (KHT) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is nearly antipodal to Khost Airport (meaning Khost Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Mataveri International Airport), and is located 12,009 miles (19,326 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• The closest airport to Khost Airport (KHT) is Bannu Airport (BNP), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) SE of KHT.
• In December 2009, seven CIA employees were killed in a suicide attack at the nearby Forward Operating Base Chapman.
• Expanded by the Soviets in the 1980s to support bombing activity during the Soviet war in Afghanistan, it has packed dirt runways now maintained by the U.S.
• In addition to being known as "Khost Airport", other names for KHT include "Khost Airport (Khost)", "دخوست هوائی ډګر" and "KDH".
• Work began to improve the Khost Airport in September 2011.
• Khost Airport (KHT) currently has only 1 runway.