Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kolhapur, India:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kolhapur Airport (KLH), Kolhapur, India would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,232 miles (or 13,248 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 Kolhapur 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 Kolhapur 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".
• 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 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 base experienced one of its worst peacetime tragedies in March 1953 when an RB-36 and its entire crew of 23 crashed in Newfoundland while returning from a routine exercise in Europe.
• 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.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• 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.
• 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 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.

Facts about Kolhapur Airport (KLH):

• In addition to being known as "Kolhapur Airport", another name for KLH is "कोल्हापूर विमानतळ".
• Kolhapur airport was set for a major upgrade, making it capable of handling Boeing 737 aircraft.
• The furthest airport from Kolhapur Airport (KLH) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,673 miles (18,787 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• The present Kolhapur Airport began operations in the year 1987 and was leased by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation from Airports Authority of India on 16 April 1997.
• The closest airport to Kolhapur Airport (KLH) is Belgaum Airport (IXG), which is located 60 miles (96 kilometers) SSE of KLH.
• The airport was closed for repairs by order of the DGCA on June 16, 2010 after the runway surface was found to be unsafe in the monsoons.
• No commercial airline services
• Kolhapur Airport (KLH) currently has only 1 runway.