Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Saipan International Airport (SPN), Saipan Island, Northern Mariana Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,491 miles (or 10,446 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 Saipan 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 Saipan 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):

• In March 1944, heavy bomber operational training ended and the 225th Army Air Force Base Unit began training of replacement personnel for deployed heavy bombardment units in the overseas combat theaters.
• 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.
• The 740th AC&W Squadron began operations in 1955 with AN/MPS-7 search radar, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept and warning station.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".

Facts about Saipan International Airport (SPN):

• The furthest airport from Saipan International Airport (SPN) is Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho) (SSA), which is nearly antipodal to Saipan International Airport (meaning Saipan International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho)), and is located 12,125 miles (19,514 kilometers) away in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
• Saipan International Airport, also known as Francisco C.
• With the end of the war the wing's four bomb groups were all returned to the United States, with their B-29s either being flown to Clark Air Base in the Philippines for scrapping, or were flown to storage facilities in Texas or Arizona.
• Because of Saipan International Airport's relatively low elevation of 215 feet, planes can take off or land at Saipan 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.
• In 2005, Japan Airlines suspended its services from Japan to SPN.
• Saipan International Airport commenced operation on 25 July 1976 taking over from the nearby Kobler Field.Continental Micronesia initially had its main hub at Kobler Field and then Saipan Airport.
• The closest airport to Saipan International Airport (SPN) is Tinian International Airport (TIQ), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) SW of SPN.
• SPN was a sugarcane field before the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service constructed a temporary landing field on the site in 1933.
• In addition to being known as "Saipan International Airport", other names for SPN include "Francisco C. Ada Airport" and "GSN".
• Saipan International Airport (SPN) currently has only 1 runway.
• Saipan International Airport covers an area of 734 acres which contains one paved runway measuring 8,700 x 200 ft.