Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Charleston, West Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Yeager Airport (CRW), Charleston, West Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,181 miles (or 1,900 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 relatively short distance between Ellsworth Air Force Base and Yeager Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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".
• 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.
• 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 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 Titan I's life span was short in western South Dakota.

Facts about Yeager Airport (CRW):

• Yeager Airport covers 767 acres at an elevation of 981 feet above mean sea level.
• On January 10, 2009 Colgan Air flight 6880 on behalf of United Airlines reported a hydraulics leak.
• Because of Yeager Airport's relatively low elevation of 981 feet, planes can take off or land at Yeager 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 city started construction in 1944.
• The closest airport to Yeager Airport (CRW) is Raleigh County Memorial Airport (BKW), which is located 48 miles (77 kilometers) SSE of CRW.
• On August 10 1968, Piedmont Airlines Flight 230 was on an ILS localizer-only approach to runway 23 when it struck trees 360 feet from the runway threshold.
• Runway 5/23's heading is 235°.
• Yeager Airport (CRW) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Yeager Airport (CRW) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,458 miles (18,440 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Federal Aviation Administration records show 264,818 passenger enplanements in calendar year 2010, an increase of 11.2% from the 238,190 enplanements in 2009.