Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Lhoksumawe, Sumatra, Indonesia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Malikus Saleh Airport (LSW), Lhoksumawe, Sumatra, Indonesia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,805 miles (or 14,171 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 Malikus Saleh 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 Malikus Saleh 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 deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• 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".
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• 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.
• To provide air defense of the base, the United States Army established the Ellsworth AFB Defense Area in 1957 and constructed Nike-Ajax Surface-to-air missile sites for air defense.

Facts about Malikus Saleh Airport (LSW):

• The closest airport to Malikus Saleh Airport (LSW) is Sultan Iskandar Muda International Airport (BTJ), which is located 107 miles (173 kilometers) W of LSW.
• In addition to being known as "Malikus Saleh Airport", another name for LSW is "Bandar Udara Malikussaleh".
• Malikus Saleh Airport (LSW) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport was built by PT Arun NGL to facilitate the transport of Lhokseumawe and its vicinity to the city of Medan.
• The furthest airport from Malikus Saleh Airport (LSW) is Cap. FAP Victor Montes Arias Airport (TYL), which is nearly antipodal to Malikus Saleh Airport (meaning Malikus Saleh Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cap. FAP Victor Montes Arias Airport), and is located 12,305 miles (19,803 kilometers) away in Talara, Peru.
• Because of Malikus Saleh Airport's relatively low elevation of 90 feet, planes can take off or land at Malikus Saleh 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.