Nonstop flight route between Kearney, Nebraska, United States and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kearney Regional Airport (EAR), Kearney, Nebraska, United States and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 314 miles (or 506 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 Kearney 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 Kearney Regional Airport (EAR):

• The first airline flights were Mid-West Cessna 190s in 1950-52, then Frontier DC-3s appeared in 1959.
• Kearney Regional Airport (EAR) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Kearney Regional Airport (EAR) is Hastings Municipal Airport (HSI), which is located 31 miles (51 kilometers) ESE of EAR.
• The furthest airport from Kearney Regional Airport (EAR) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,654 miles (17,145 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• In 1940 Kearney had a population of 9,643.

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.
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• 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.
• Internationally, the destruction of the Berlin Wall in October 1989 symbolized the imminent demise of the Soviet Union over the next several months.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• 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.