Nonstop flight route between Alton, Illinois, United States and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between St. Louis Regional Airport (ALN), Alton, Illinois, United States and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 764 miles (or 1,230 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 St. Louis Regional Airport and Ellsworth Air Force Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about St. Louis Regional Airport (ALN):

• The closest airport to St. Louis Regional Airport (ALN) is Lambert–St. Louis International Airport (STL), which is located only 20 miles (32 kilometers) WSW of ALN.
• The furthest airport from St. Louis Regional Airport (ALN) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,002 miles (17,706 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Its operations are paid for by an airport taxation district created in 1946, which collects taxes from property owners in the Madison County townships of Alton, Wood River, Foster and Fort Russell.
• Because of St. Louis Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 544 feet, planes can take off or land at St. Louis Regional 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.
• St. Louis Regional Airport (ALN) has 2 runways.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• 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.
• On 1 June 1971, SAC deactivated the 821st Strategic Aerospace Division and by October of that year, an upgraded LGM-30F Minuteman II also replaced the Minuteman I missiles.
• 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.
• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.