Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kushiro, Hokkaidō, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kushiro Airport (KUH), Kushiro, Hokkaidō, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,125 miles (or 8,248 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 Kushiro 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 Kushiro 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 12th Air Division moved to Ellsworth on 15 July 1988.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Ellsworth Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 10 miles northeast of Rapid City, South Dakota just north of Box Elder, South Dakota.
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental 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.

Facts about Kushiro Airport (KUH):

• A bus service runs between the Airport and town of Kushiro, taking about 25 minutes and calling at the railway station, "MOO" shopping complex and a few other locations.
• Because of Kushiro Airport's relatively low elevation of 311 feet, planes can take off or land at Kushiro 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.
• Kushiro Airport (KUH) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Kushiro Airport (KUH) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,268 miles (18,133 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• Kushiro Airport has a passenger terminal on three levels, all scheduled flights use the same terminal.
• In addition to being known as "Kushiro Airport", other names for KUH include "釧路空港" and "Kushiro Kūkō".
• The closest airport to Kushiro Airport (KUH) is Nakashibetsu Airport (SHB), which is located 53 miles (86 kilometers) NE of KUH.
• A number of car hire companies have desks in the arrivals, all have off site parking, although this is no more than 2 minutes travel in the shuttle bus.