Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Sukhumi, Georgia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Sukhumi Babushara Airport (SUI), Sukhumi, Georgia would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,032 miles (or 9,707 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 Sukhumi Babushara 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 Sukhumi Babushara 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 addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• 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 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.
• The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.

Facts about Sukhumi Babushara Airport (SUI):

• The furthest airport from Sukhumi Babushara Airport (SUI) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is located 11,052 miles (17,786 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.
• The closest airport to Sukhumi Babushara Airport (SUI) is Sochi International Airport, Russia (AER), which is located 72 miles (116 kilometers) NW of SUI.
• Because of Sukhumi Babushara Airport's relatively low elevation of 53 feet, planes can take off or land at Sukhumi Babushara 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 airport is currently only used for flights to the mountain village of Pskhu and for flights carried out by Russian Air Force.
• Sukhumi Babushara Airport (SUI) currently has only 1 runway.