Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Puducherry, India:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Puducherry Airport (PNY), Puducherry, India would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,556 miles (or 13,769 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 Puducherry 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 Puducherry 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 installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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 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.
• 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.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• The 12th Air Division moved to Ellsworth on 15 July 1988.

Facts about Puducherry Airport (PNY):

• Puducherry Airport (PNY) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Puducherry Airport's relatively low elevation of 134 feet, planes can take off or land at Puducherry 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 on-going Phase-II will see an extension of an additional 1100 meters of runway by acquiring another 200 acres of land in the adjoining state of Tamil Nadu to operate larger jet aircraft.
• The closest airport to Puducherry Airport (PNY) is Chennai International Airport (MAA), which is located 74 miles (119 kilometers) NNE of PNY.
• Pondicherry Airport has one asphalt runway, oriented 07/25, 1500 metres long and 30 metres wide.
• The furthest airport from Puducherry Airport (PNY) is Seymour Airport (GPS), which is located 11,390 miles (18,331 kilometers) away in Baltra Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
• In addition to being known as "Puducherry Airport", other names for PNY include "புதுச்சேரி விமான நிலையம்", "VOPC" and "Pondicherry Airport".