Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Batu Berendam, Malaysia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Melaka International Airport (MKZ), Batu Berendam, Malaysia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,869 miles (or 14,273 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 Melaka 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 Melaka 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):

• 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 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.
• 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's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• 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.
• The Titan I's life span was short in western South Dakota.
• 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.
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.

Facts about Melaka International Airport (MKZ):

• The airport had an earth breaking ceremony on 1 April 2006, and is currently undergoing an upgrade, due to be completed by 29 April 2009.
• Melaka International Airport (MKZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Currently the only airport Ground Handling Services provided by Oxysky Flight Support located at the Terminal Building serving the corporate, private jet and also Airlines.
• The closest airport to Melaka International Airport (MKZ) is Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL), which is located 51 miles (82 kilometers) NW of MKZ.
• The furthest airport from Melaka International Airport (MKZ) is Col. Edmundo Carvajal Airport (XMS), which is nearly antipodal to Melaka International Airport (meaning Melaka International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Col. Edmundo Carvajal Airport), and is located 12,411 miles (19,973 kilometers) away in Macas, Ecuador.
• Melaka International Airport handled 34,355 passengers last year.
• Because of Melaka International Airport's relatively low elevation of 40 feet, planes can take off or land at Melaka 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.
• In addition to being known as "Melaka International Airport", another name for MKZ is "Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Melaka".