Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Jinan, Shandong, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport (TNA), Jinan, Shandong, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,298 miles (or 10,136 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 Jinan Yaoqiang 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 Jinan Yaoqiang 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):

• 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 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".
• 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 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 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.

Facts about Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport (TNA):

• The closest airport to Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport (TNA) is Weifang Airport (WEF), which is located 106 miles (171 kilometers) E of TNA.
• In addition to being known as "Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport", other names for TNA include "济南遥墙国际机场" and "Jǐnán Yáoqiáng Guójì Jīchǎng".
• Because of Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport's relatively low elevation of 76 feet, planes can take off or land at Jinan Yaoqiang 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.
• Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport handled 7,664,111 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport (TNA) is Brigadier Hector Eduardo Ruiz Airport (CSZ), which is nearly antipodal to Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport (meaning Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Brigadier Hector Eduardo Ruiz Airport), and is located 12,373 miles (19,912 kilometers) away in Coronel Suárez, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport (TNA) currently has only 1 runway.