Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Narita (near Tokyo), Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Narita International Airport (NRT), Narita (near Tokyo), Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,635 miles (or 9,068 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 Narita 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 Narita 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):

• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".

Facts about Narita International Airport (NRT):

• The furthest airport from Narita International Airport (NRT) is Diomício Freitas/Forquilhinha Airport (CCM), which is located 11,686 miles (18,806 kilometers) away in Criciúma, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
• Narita International Airport (NRT) has 2 runways.
• The Museum of Aeronautical Sciences is located on the south side of Narita Airport and has a number of aircraft on exhibit, including a NAMC YS-11 and a number of small piston aircraft.
• All seats are reserved on the express "Liner" services, while the suburban "Express" services use open seating.
• Narita International Airport handled 31,432,754 passengers last year.
• The South Wing and Satellite 5 opened in June 2006 as a terminal for Star Alliance carriers.
• Because of the large volume of foreign fish imported by air for use in sushi restaurants, Narita Airport is the eighth-largest fishing port in Japan by tonnage.
• The closest airport to Narita International Airport (NRT) is Tokyo International Airport (HND), which is located 37 miles (59 kilometers) WSW of NRT.
• Vanilla Air, a low cost carrier, has its headquarters within Terminal 2.
• In addition to being known as "Narita International Airport", other names for NRT include "成田国際空港" and "Narita Kokusai Kūkō".
• Because of Narita International Airport's relatively low elevation of 135 feet, planes can take off or land at Narita 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.