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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport (GUC), Gunnison, Colorado, United States and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 436 miles (or 702 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 Gunnison-Crested Butte 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 Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport (GUC):

• Passengers at Gunnison are mainly vacationers coming to the area for year-round outdoor activities, such as skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, mountain biking, fishing, rafting, hiking and camping.
• The closest airport to Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport (GUC) is Aspen–Pitkin County Airport (ASE), which is located 48 miles (77 kilometers) N of GUC.
• In the months after the September 11 attacks, Gunnison–Crested Butte Regional Airport was one of several airports to have a temporary presence of National Guard.
• Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport (GUC) has 2 runways.
• Because of Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport's high elevation of 7,680 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GUC. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GUC a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport (GUC) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,016 miles (17,728 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• It is at 38°32′02″N 106°55′59″W / 38.53389°N 106.93306°W / 38.53389.

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.
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• On 15 July 1945, the 225th AAFBU was inactivated and Rapid City AAB was placed on standby status as the Army Air Forces began to demobilize.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• The 12th Air Division moved to Ellsworth on 15 July 1988.
• 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's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• 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 740th AC&W Squadron began operations in 1955 with AN/MPS-7 search radar, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept and warning station.