Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kikwit, Democratic Republic of the Congo:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kikwit Airport (KKW), Kikwit, Democratic Republic of the Congo would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,015 miles (or 12,899 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 Kikwit 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 Kikwit 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.
• 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.
• On 1 June 1992, as part of the first major reorganization since the creation of USAF, the Air Force inactivated Strategic Air Command and assigned Ellsworth's organizations ) to the newly activated Air Combat Command.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.

Facts about Kikwit Airport (KKW):

• The closest airport to Kikwit Airport (KKW) is Idiofa Airport (IDF), which is located 56 miles (90 kilometers) E of KKW.
• In addition to being known as "Kikwit Airport", another name for KKW is "Kikwit Airport".
• Kikwit Airport (KKW) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Kikwit Airport (KKW) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is nearly antipodal to Kikwit Airport (meaning Kikwit Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cassidy International Airport), and is located 12,097 miles (19,468 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.