Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Luderitz, Namibia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Lüderitz Airport (LUD), Luderitz, Namibia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,850 miles (or 14,243 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 Lüderitz 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 Lüderitz 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.
• 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.
• The Titan I's life span was short in western South Dakota.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• 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".
• 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.

Facts about Lüderitz Airport (LUD):

• The furthest airport from Lüderitz Airport (LUD) is PMRF Barking Sands (BKH), which is located 11,988 miles (19,292 kilometers) away in Kekaha, Hawaii, United States.
• Lüderitz Airport (LUD) has 2 runways.
• Because of Lüderitz Airport's relatively low elevation of 457 feet, planes can take off or land at Lüderitz 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.
• Lüderitz Airport handled 15,694 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Lüderitz Airport (LUD) is Alexander Bay Airport (ALJ), which is located 152 miles (245 kilometers) SSE of LUD.