Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Sirte, Libya:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Ghardabiya Air Base (SRX), Sirte, Libya would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,001 miles (or 9,657 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 Ghardabiya Air Base, 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 Ghardabiya Air Base. 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 addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Military organizations periodically upgrade manpower and machines from time to time to meet new national security requirements and Ellsworth Air Force Base's organizations were no exception.
• 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.
• Internationally, the destruction of the Berlin Wall in October 1989 symbolized the imminent demise of the Soviet Union over the next several months.

Facts about Ghardabiya Air Base (SRX):

• Because of Ghardabiya Air Base's relatively low elevation of 266 feet, planes can take off or land at Ghardabiya Air Base 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 "Ghardabiya Air Base", other names for SRX include "Gardabya Airport" and "SRX [1]".
• The furthest airport from Ghardabiya Air Base (SRX) is Rarotonga International Airport (RAR), which is located 11,720 miles (18,862 kilometers) away in Avarua, Cook Islands.
• The closest airport to Ghardabiya Air Base (SRX) is Misrata International Airport (MRA), which is located 126 miles (203 kilometers) NW of SRX.
• Ghardabiya Air Base is a dual-function airbase for the Libyan Air Force south of the city of Sirte.
• Ghardabiya Air Base (SRX) has 2 runways.