Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Okayama, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Okayama Airport (OKJ), Okayama, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,920 miles (or 9,527 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 Okayama 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 Okayama 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):

• 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".
• 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.
• 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 AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• 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.
• Internationally, the destruction of the Berlin Wall in October 1989 symbolized the imminent demise of the Soviet Union over the next several months.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.

Facts about Okayama Airport (OKJ):

• The closest airport to Okayama Airport (OKJ) is Takamatsu Airport (TAK), which is located 39 miles (62 kilometers) SSE of OKJ.
• Okayama Airport (OKJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Okayama Airport's relatively low elevation of 785 feet, planes can take off or land at Okayama 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 "Okayama Airport", other names for OKJ include "岡山空港" and "Okayama Kūkō".
• The furthest airport from Okayama Airport (OKJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Okayama Airport (meaning Okayama Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,044 miles (19,382 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.