Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Del Carmen, Surigao del Norte, Philippines:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Sayak Airport (SOS), Del Carmen, Surigao del Norte, Philippines would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,607 miles (or 12,243 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 Sayak 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 Sayak 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 deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• 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 addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• The mission of the 28th Bomb Wing is to deliver decisive combat power for global response.
• 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.
• The base experienced one of its worst peacetime tragedies in March 1953 when an RB-36 and its entire crew of 23 crashed in Newfoundland while returning from a routine exercise in Europe.

Facts about Sayak Airport (SOS):

• The closest airport to Sayak Airport (SOS) is Surigao Airport (SUG), which is located 37 miles (60 kilometers) W of SOS.
• Because of Sayak Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Sayak 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 "Sayak Airport", other names for SOS include "Paliparan ng Sayak", "IAO" and "RPNS".
• The furthest airport from Sayak Airport (SOS) is Orlando Villas-Bôas Regional Airport (MBK), which is nearly antipodal to Sayak Airport (meaning Sayak Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Orlando Villas-Bôas Regional Airport), and is located 12,368 miles (19,904 kilometers) away in Matupá, Mato Grosso, Brazil.
• Sayak Airport handled 781 passengers last year.
• Sayak Airport (SOS) currently has only 1 runway.