Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Lagos, Nigeria:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS), Lagos, Nigeria would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,700 miles (or 10,783 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 Murtala Muhammed 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 Murtala Muhammed 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):

• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• On 1 June 1992, as part of the first major reorganization since the creation of USAF, the Air Force inactivated Strategic Air Command and assigned Ellsworth's organizations ) to the newly activated Air Combat Command.
• 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.
• 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 addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".

Facts about Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS):

• Because of Murtala Muhammed International Airport's relatively low elevation of 135 feet, planes can take off or land at Murtala Muhammed 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.
• The airport includes the headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria.
• The closest airport to Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS) is Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport (COO), which is located 66 miles (106 kilometers) WSW of LOS.
• Murtala Muhammed International Airport handled 1,006,646 passengers last year.
• Recent years have seen substantial improvements at Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
• Following Olusegun Obasanjo's democratic election in 1999, the security situation at Lagos began to improve.
• During the late 1980s and 1990s, the international terminal had a reputation of being a dangerous airport.
• Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LOS) is Funafuti International Airport (FUN), which is nearly antipodal to Murtala Muhammed International Airport (meaning Murtala Muhammed International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Funafuti International Airport), and is located 12,124 miles (19,511 kilometers) away in Funafuti, Tuvalu.