Nonstop flight route between Alamosa, Colorado, United States and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between San Luis Valley Regional Airport (ALS), Alamosa, Colorado, United States and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 486 miles (or 782 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 San Luis Valley 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 San Luis Valley Regional Airport (ALS):

• The airport covers 1,700 acres at an elevation of 7,539 feet.
• Because of San Luis Valley Regional Airport's high elevation of 7,539 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ALS. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ALS a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to San Luis Valley Regional Airport (ALS) is Stevens Field (FAA: PSO) (PGO), which is located 66 miles (106 kilometers) W of ALS.
• The furthest airport from San Luis Valley Regional Airport (ALS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,054 miles (17,790 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• San Luis Valley Regional Airport (ALS) has 2 runways.
• Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 7,161 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 6,279 in 2009 and 6,737 in 2010.
• In addition to being known as "San Luis Valley Regional Airport", another name for ALS is "Bergman Field".

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• The airfield was again temporarily shut down from September 1946 – March 1947 and underwent a major construction program to upgrade the temporary wartime facilities to that of a permanent base.
• 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 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.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• The 44th Missile Wing, however, had ably accomplished its deterrence mission.
• 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.
• 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.