Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Lüliang, Shanxi, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Lüliang Airport (LLV), Lüliang, Shanxi, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,392 miles (or 10,287 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 Lüliang 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 Lüliang 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):

• 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 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 Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• 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.
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
• Internationally, the destruction of the Berlin Wall in October 1989 symbolized the imminent demise of the Soviet Union over the next several months.

Facts about Lüliang Airport (LLV):

• The closest airport to Lüliang Airport (LLV) is Taiyuan Wuxu International Airport (TYN), which is located 81 miles (131 kilometers) E of LLV.
• In addition to being known as "Lüliang Airport", other names for LLV include "吕梁机场", "Lǚliáng Jīchǎng" and "ZBLL".
• The furthest airport from Lüliang Airport (LLV) is Colonia Catriel Airport (CCT), which is nearly antipodal to Lüliang Airport (meaning Lüliang Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Colonia Catriel Airport), and is located 12,379 miles (19,922 kilometers) away in Colonia Catriel, Río Negro, Argentina.