Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Luanda, Angola:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport (LAD), Luanda, Angola would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,941 miles (or 12,779 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 Quatro de Fevereiro 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 Quatro de Fevereiro 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):

• 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 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.
• The 12th Air Division moved to Ellsworth on 15 July 1988.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Air Defense Command activated the 740th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Rapid City AFB on 1 February 1953 under the ADC 31st Air Division.
• 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.
• 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.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.

Facts about Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport (LAD):

• Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport (LAD) has 2 runways.
• Because of Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport's relatively low elevation of 243 feet, planes can take off or land at Quatro de Fevereiro 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.
• Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport handled 2,430,794 passengers last year.
• On 27 June 2009, a British Airways Boeing 777-200ER G-RAES was damaged, while it was parked, by a collision with a Hainan Airlines Airbus A340-600 B-6510.
• In the near future, the airport will be replaced by the new Angola International Airport.
• In 2009, about 1.8 million passengers were counted.
• Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport, is the main international airport of Angola.
• On 12 February 2000, a Transafrik International cargo Boeing 727 crashed upon landing on runway 23.
• In addition to being known as "Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport", other names for LAD include "Aeroporto 4 de Fevereiro (Belas) (Luanda)" and "Aeroporto Internacional 4 de Fevereiro".
• The furthest airport from Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport (LAD) is Johnston Atoll Airport (JON), which is located 11,862 miles (19,090 kilometers) away in Johnston Atoll, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands.
• On 31 January 2010, Guicango Yakovlev Yak-40 D2-FES suffered the collapse of all landing gears on landing after a flight from Cabinda.
• The closest airport to Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport (LAD) is Ambriz Airport (AZZ), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) N of LAD.