Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and La Unión, Honduras[disambiguation needed]:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and La Unión Airport (LUI), La Unión, Honduras[disambiguation needed] would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,772 miles (or 9,289 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 La Unión 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 La Unión 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):

• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• Internationally, the destruction of the Berlin Wall in October 1989 symbolized the imminent demise of the Soviet Union over the next several months.
• 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.
• 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 airfield was again temporarily shut down from September 1946 – March 1947 and underwent a major construction program to upgrade the temporary wartime facilities to that of a permanent base.
• 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 La Unión Airport (LUI):

• Because of La Unión Airport's relatively low elevation of 528 feet, planes can take off or land at La Unión 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 furthest airport from La Unión Airport (LUI) is Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY), which is nearly antipodal to La Unión Airport (meaning La Unión Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Xi'an Xianyang International Airport), and is located 12,412 miles (19,976 kilometers) away in Xianyang, Shaanxi, China.
• The closest airport to La Unión Airport (LUI) is Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL), which is located 83 miles (134 kilometers) NE of LUI.
• La Unión Airport (LUI) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "La Unión Airport", other names for LUI include "La Unión Airport (Marchigüe)", "Aeropuerto La Unión" and "SCLU".