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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Suzhou Guangfu Airport (SZV), Suzhou, Jiangsu, China and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,550 miles (or 10,541 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 Suzhou Guangfu Airport and Ellsworth Air Force Base, 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 Suzhou Guangfu Airport and Ellsworth Air Force Base. 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 Suzhou Guangfu Airport (SZV):

• In addition to being known as "Suzhou Guangfu Airport", other names for SZV include "苏州光福机场", "Sūzhōu Guāngfú Jīchǎng" and "ZSSV".
• The furthest airport from Suzhou Guangfu Airport (SZV) is General Justo José de Urquiza Airport (PRA), which is nearly antipodal to Suzhou Guangfu Airport (meaning Suzhou Guangfu Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from General Justo José de Urquiza Airport), and is located 12,373 miles (19,913 kilometers) away in Paraná, Entre Ríos, Argentina.
• The closest airport to Suzhou Guangfu Airport (SZV) is Sunan Shuofang International Airport (WUX), which is located only 16 miles (26 kilometers) N of SZV.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• 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.
• Military organizations periodically upgrade manpower and machines from time to time to meet new national security requirements and Ellsworth Air Force Base's organizations were no exception.
• The 44th Missile Wing, however, had ably accomplished its deterrence mission.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• 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 installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• 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.