Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kudat, Sabah, Malaysia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kudat Airport (KUD), Kudat, Sabah, Malaysia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,122 miles (or 13,071 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 Kudat 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 Kudat 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):

• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• 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".
• The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• 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's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• 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.

Facts about Kudat Airport (KUD):

• The closest airport to Kudat Airport (KUD) is Kota Kinabalu International Airport (BKI), which is located 86 miles (138 kilometers) SW of KUD.
• Because of Kudat Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Kudat 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.
• Kudat Airport (KUD) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Kudat Airport", other names for KUD include "Lapangan Terbang Kudat" and "古达机场".
• The furthest airport from Kudat Airport (KUD) is Lábrea Airport (LBR), which is nearly antipodal to Kudat Airport (meaning Kudat Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Lábrea Airport), and is located 12,324 miles (19,833 kilometers) away in Lábrea, Amazonas, Brazil.