Nonstop flight route between Heihe, Heilongjiang, China and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from HEK to RCA:
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- About this route
- HEK Airport Information
- RCA Airport Information
- Facts about HEK
- Facts about RCA
- Map of Nearest Airports to HEK
- List of Nearest Airports to HEK
- Map of Furthest Airports from HEK
- List of Furthest Airports from HEK
- Map of Nearest Airports to RCA
- List of Nearest Airports to RCA
- Map of Furthest Airports from RCA
- List of Furthest Airports from RCA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Heihe Airport (HEK), Heihe, Heilongjiang, China and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,251 miles (or 8,451 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 Heihe 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 Heihe 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:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | HEK / ZYHE |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Heihe, Heilongjiang, China |
GPS Coordinates: | 50°10'19"N by 127°18'30"E |
Area Served: | Heihe, Heilongjiang, China |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 1024 feet (312 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from HEK |
More Information: | HEK Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | RCA / KRCA |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Rapid City, South Dakota, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 44°8'47"N by 103°4'28"W |
View all routes: | Routes from RCA |
More Information: | RCA Maps & Info |
Facts about Heihe Airport (HEK):
- The furthest airport from Heihe Airport (HEK) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is nearly antipodal to Heihe Airport (meaning Heihe Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Port Stanley Airport), and is located 12,192 miles (19,621 kilometers) away in Stanley, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom.
- Heihe Airport (HEK) currently has only 1 runway.
- In addition to being known as "Heihe Airport", other names for HEK include "黑河机场" and "Hēihé Jīchǎng".
- The closest airport to Heihe Airport (HEK) is Ignatyevo Airport (BQS), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) NNE of HEK.
Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):
- The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
- 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.
- Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
- Ellsworth Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 10 miles northeast of Rapid City, South Dakota just north of Box Elder, South Dakota.
- Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
- When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
- 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.
- An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
- 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 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.