Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Guilin, Guangxi, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Guilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL), Guilin, Guangxi, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,206 miles (or 11,598 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 Guilin Liangjiang International 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 Guilin Liangjiang International 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):

• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• 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.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• On 1 June 1971, SAC deactivated the 821st Strategic Aerospace Division and by October of that year, an upgraded LGM-30F Minuteman II also replaced the Minuteman I missiles.
• 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.

Facts about Guilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL):

• Guilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Guilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL) is Liuzhou Bailian Airport (LZH), which is located 81 miles (130 kilometers) SSW of KWL.
• Guilin Liangjiang International Airport handled 5,489,481 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Guilin Liangjiang International Airport", other names for KWL include "Gveilinz Unggyangh Gozci Gihcangz桂林两江国际机场" and "Guìlín Liǎngjiāng Guójì Jīchǎng".
• The furthest airport from Guilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL) is Ricardo García Posada Airport El Salvador Bajo Airport (ESR), which is nearly antipodal to Guilin Liangjiang International Airport (meaning Guilin Liangjiang International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ricardo García Posada Airport El Salvador Bajo Airport), and is located 12,360 miles (19,892 kilometers) away in El Salvador, Chile.
• Because of Guilin Liangjiang International Airport's relatively low elevation of 571 feet, planes can take off or land at Guilin Liangjiang International 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.