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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Tianjin Binhai International Airport (TSN), Tianjin, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,156 miles (or 9,907 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 Tianjin Binhai 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 Tianjin Binhai 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 addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• On 1 June 1992, as part of the first major reorganization since the creation of USAF, the Air Force inactivated Strategic Air Command and assigned Ellsworth's organizations ) to the newly activated Air Combat Command.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• The mission of the 28th Bomb Wing is to deliver decisive combat power for global response.
• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• 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's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.

Facts about Tianjin Binhai International Airport (TSN):

• In addition to being known as "Tianjin Binhai International Airport", other names for TSN include "天津滨海国际机场" and "Tiānjīn Bīnhăi Guójì Jīchǎng".
• In 2008, the airport handled 166,558 tonnes of freight, and became the 11th busiest airport in China.
• It is the hub airport for Tianjin Airlines, established in 2004, and privately owned Okay Airways.
• The terminal has Tianjin Airlines headquarters.
• Tianjin Binhai International Airport handled 8,139,988 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Tianjin Binhai International Airport (TSN) is Tangshan Sannühe Airport (TVS), which is located 54 miles (87 kilometers) NE of TSN.
• Because of Tianjin Binhai International Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Tianjin Binhai 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.
• The furthest airport from Tianjin Binhai International Airport (TSN) is Comandante Espora Airport (BHI), which is nearly antipodal to Tianjin Binhai International Airport (meaning Tianjin Binhai International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Comandante Espora Airport), and is located 12,399 miles (19,954 kilometers) away in Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.
• Tianjin Binhai International Airport (TSN) has 2 runways.
• The airport is also the site of the Airbus A320 final assembly line which started operations in 2008.