Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Yonago, Tottori, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Miho-Yonago Airport (YGJ), Yonago, Tottori, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,900 miles (or 9,495 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 Miho-Yonago 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 Miho-Yonago 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 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.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• To provide air defense of the base, the United States Army established the Ellsworth AFB Defense Area in 1957 and constructed Nike-Ajax Surface-to-air missile sites for air defense.
• 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 1986, the base and the 28 BMW made extensive preparations to phase out the aging B-52 fleet and become the second home for the advanced B-1B Lancer.

Facts about Miho-Yonago Airport (YGJ):

• Because of Miho-Yonago Airport's relatively low elevation of 13 feet, planes can take off or land at Miho-Yonago 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 Miho-Yonago Airport (YGJ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Miho-Yonago Airport (meaning Miho-Yonago Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,047 miles (19,388 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• In addition to being known as "Miho-Yonago Airport", another name for YGJ is "美保飛行場".
• Miho-Yonago Airport (YGJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The Japan Coast Guard established a base at Miho in 1978 and has operated Bell 212, Bell 412 and AgustaWestland AW139 helicopters and Bombardier DHC-8 fixed-wing aircraft there.
• The closest airport to Miho-Yonago Airport (YGJ) is Izumo Airport (IZO), which is located 20 miles (33 kilometers) WSW of YGJ.
• Skymark Airlines began service from Yonago to Narita and Kobe in December 2013, and has announced that it will begin service from Yonago to Haneda, Sapporo and Okinawa beginning in April 2014.
• The airport was built as an Imperial Japanese Army Air Force airfield during World War II, and was attacked by USAAF B-24 Liberator bombers during July 1945.