Nonstop flight route between Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, United States and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wings Field (BBX), Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, United States and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,444 miles (or 2,324 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 Wings Field 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 Wings Field (BBX):

• Wings Field covers 217 acres and has one asphalt runway, 6/24, 3,700 x 75 ft.
• Wings Field (BBX) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Wings Field (BBX) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,723 miles (18,866 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Wings Field's relatively low elevation of 302 feet, planes can take off or land at Wings Field 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.
• In addition to being known as "Wings Field", another name for BBX is "LOM".
• The closest airport to Wings Field (BBX) is NAS JRB Willow Grove (NXX), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) NE of BBX.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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.
• After the Army closed their facilities, the military housing at the Nike Integrated Fire Control sites was transferred to control of Ellsworth, and was used as Air Force military family housing until about 1990.
• 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.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.