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):

• Air Defense Command activated the 740th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Rapid City AFB on 1 February 1953 under the ADC 31st Air Division.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Okayama Airport (OKJ):

• 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.
• The closest airport to Okayama Airport (OKJ) is Takamatsu Airport (TAK), which is located 39 miles (62 kilometers) SSE of OKJ.
• 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.
• Okayama Airport (OKJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Okayama Airport", other names for OKJ include "岡山空港" and "Okayama Kūkō".