Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Ndola, Zambia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Ndola Airport (NLA), Ndola, Zambia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,876 miles (or 14,285 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 Ndola 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 Ndola 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):

• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• 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.
• 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.
• In March 1994, Ellsworth welcomed the 34th Bomb Squadron, a geographically separated unit that was awaiting airfield upgrades before it could return to its parent organization, the 366th Wing, at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• On 2 January 1942, the U.S.
• After the Army closed their facilities, the military housing at the Nike Integrated Fire Control sites was transferred to control of Ellsworth, and was used as Air Force military family housing until about 1990.

Facts about Ndola Airport (NLA):

• It is situated 1,270 metres above sea level.
• Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport is an airport located in Copperbelt Province in northern Zambia, in the city of Ndola, near the international border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• Ndola Airport is an airport that serves the city of Ndola and surrounding cities on the copperbelt.
• The furthest airport from Ndola Airport (NLA) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is located 11,911 miles (19,170 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
• Ndola Airport (NLA) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Ndola Airport (NLA) is Southdowns Airport (KIW), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) WNW of NLA.
• Because of Ndola Airport's high elevation of 4,170 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at NLA. Combined with a high temperature, this could make NLA a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.