Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, Philippines:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Sanga-Sanga Airport (TWT), Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, Philippines would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,124 miles (or 13,075 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 Sanga-Sanga 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 Sanga-Sanga 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".
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• 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.
• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• 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.
• 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 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.

Facts about Sanga-Sanga Airport (TWT):

• Because of Sanga-Sanga Airport's relatively low elevation of 16 feet, planes can take off or land at Sanga-Sanga 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.
• Sanga-Sanga Airport handled 8,663 passengers last year.
• Sanga-Sanga Airport (TWT) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Sanga-Sanga Airport (TWT) is Ponta Pelada Airport (PLL), which is nearly antipodal to Sanga-Sanga Airport (meaning Sanga-Sanga Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ponta Pelada Airport), and is located 12,304 miles (19,802 kilometers) away in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.
• Currently, the airport runway is being extended to 1,930 meters through partnerships between the DOTC, the CAAP, the United States Agency for International Development, the regional government of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and the Tawi-Tawi provincial government.
• In addition to being known as "Sanga-Sanga Airport", another name for TWT is "Paliparan ng Sanga-Sanga".
• The closest airport to Sanga-Sanga Airport (TWT) is Semporna Airport (SMM), which is located 89 miles (143 kilometers) WSW of TWT.