Nonstop flight route between Kekaha, Hawaii, United States and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from BKH to RCA:
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- About this route
- BKH Airport Information
- RCA Airport Information
- Facts about BKH
- Facts about RCA
- Map of Nearest Airports to BKH
- List of Nearest Airports to BKH
- Map of Furthest Airports from BKH
- List of Furthest Airports from BKH
- 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 PMRF Barking Sands (BKH), Kekaha, Hawaii, United States and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,539 miles (or 5,696 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 PMRF Barking Sands 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 PMRF Barking Sands 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: | BKH / PHBK |
| Airport Name: | PMRF Barking Sands |
| Location: | Kekaha, Hawaii, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 22°1'22"N by 159°47'5"W |
| Operator/Owner: | U.S. Navy |
| Airport Type: | Military |
| Elevation: | 23 feet (7 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from BKH |
| More Information: | BKH 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 PMRF Barking Sands (BKH):
- The furthest airport from PMRF Barking Sands (BKH) is Gobabis Airport (GOG), which is nearly antipodal to PMRF Barking Sands (meaning PMRF Barking Sands is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Gobabis Airport), and is located 12,351 miles (19,877 kilometers) away in Gobabis, Namibia.
- When North Korea threatened to launch Taepodong-2 ICBMs toward Hawaii in 2009, the US temporarily deployed THAAD missile batteries to the facility.
- Because of PMRF Barking Sands's relatively low elevation of 23 feet, planes can take off or land at PMRF Barking Sands 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 base has support facilities at Port Allen, Makaha Ridge, and Koke'e State Park.
- The Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands is a U.S.
- PMRF Barking Sands (BKH) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to PMRF Barking Sands (BKH) is Port Allen Airport (PAK), which is located only 15 miles (23 kilometers) SE of BKH.
- PMRF is the world's largest instrumented, multi-dimensional testing and training missile range.
Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):
- To provide air defense of the base, the United States Army established the Ellsworth AFB Defense Area in 1957 and constructed Nike-Ajax Surface-to-air missile sites for air defense.
- In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
- 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.
- 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 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.
- 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.
- Air Defense Command activated the 740th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Rapid City AFB on 1 February 1953 under the ADC 31st Air Division.
