Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Malatya, Turkey:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Malatya Erhaç Airport (MLX), Malatya, Turkey would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,238 miles (or 10,039 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 Malatya Erhaç 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 Malatya Erhaç 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".
• 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.
• The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• On 15 July 1945, the 225th AAFBU was inactivated and Rapid City AAB was placed on standby status as the Army Air Forces began to demobilize.
• 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 12th Air Division moved to Ellsworth on 15 July 1988.
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• 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.

Facts about Malatya Erhaç Airport (MLX):

• The closest airport to Malatya Erhaç Airport (MLX) is Adıyaman Airport (ADF), which is located 53 miles (85 kilometers) SSE of MLX.
• Malatya Erhaç Airport (MLX) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Malatya Erhaç Airport", another name for MLX is "Malatya Erhaç Havaalanı".
• The furthest airport from Malatya Erhaç Airport (MLX) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is located 11,298 miles (18,182 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.
• On June 22, 2012, the Turkish Air Force reported that a RF-4E Phantom reconnaissance jet operating from Erhaç went missing over the Mediterranean sea near Syria, with witnesses in the Syrian town of Latakia reporting an aircraft had been shot down by Syrian air defenses.