Nonstop flight route between Clinton, Oklahoma, United States and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark (CSM), Clinton, Oklahoma, United States and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 642 miles (or 1,033 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 Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark 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 Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark (CSM):

• The receipt of a launch site operator license gives Oklahoma a good position in the nascent space tourism industry — a market which is also being targeted by California, New Mexico, Florida and Wisconsin, as well as Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.
• Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark (CSM) has 2 runways.
• The Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark, also known as the Oklahoma Spaceport is a newly authorized spaceport near Burns Flat, Oklahoma, in the western part of the state.
• The furthest airport from Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark (CSM) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,925 miles (17,582 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark (CSM) is Clinton Regional Airport (CLK), which is located 20 miles (33 kilometers) NE of CSM.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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.
• 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".
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• 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.
• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• 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 44th Missile Wing, however, had ably accomplished its deterrence mission.