Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Nouna, Burkina Faso:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Nouna Airport (XNU), Nouna, Burkina Faso would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,054 miles (or 9,742 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 Nouna 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 Nouna 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 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.
• After the Army closed their facilities, the military housing at the Nike Integrated Fire Control sites was transferred to control of Ellsworth, and was used as Air Force military family housing until about 1990.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Nouna Airport (XNU):

• The closest airport to Nouna Airport (XNU) is Dédougou Airport (DGU), which is located 32 miles (51 kilometers) SE of XNU.
• In addition to being known as "Nouna Airport", another name for XNU is "Nouna Airport (Nouna)".
• Because of Nouna Airport's relatively low elevation of 886 feet, planes can take off or land at Nouna 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.
• Nouna Airport (XNU) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Nouna Airport (XNU) is Yasawa Island Airport (YAS), which is nearly antipodal to Nouna Airport (meaning Nouna Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Yasawa Island Airport), and is located 12,144 miles (19,544 kilometers) away in Yasawa Island, Fiji.