Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Ranong, Thailand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Ranong Airport (UNN), Ranong, Thailand would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,472 miles (or 13,634 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 Ranong 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 Ranong 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 Titan I's life span was short in western South Dakota.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• On 15 July 1945, the 225th AAFBU was inactivated and Rapid City AAB was placed on standby status as the Army Air Forces began to demobilize.
• 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 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 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.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.

Facts about Ranong Airport (UNN):

• Because of Ranong Airport's relatively low elevation of 57 feet, planes can take off or land at Ranong 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.
• Ranong Airport (UNN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Ranong Airport (UNN) is Kawthaung Airport (KAW), which is located only 19 miles (31 kilometers) N of UNN.
• The furthest airport from Ranong Airport (UNN) is Capitán FAP Carlos Martínez de Pinillos International Airport (TRU), which is nearly antipodal to Ranong Airport (meaning Ranong Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Capitán FAP Carlos Martínez de Pinillos International Airport), and is located 12,241 miles (19,699 kilometers) away in Trujillo, Peru.