Nonstop flight route between Houston, Texas, United States and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from IWS to RCA:
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- About this route
- IWS Airport Information
- RCA Airport Information
- Facts about IWS
- Facts about RCA
- Map of Nearest Airports to IWS
- List of Nearest Airports to IWS
- Map of Furthest Airports from IWS
- List of Furthest Airports from IWS
- 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 West Houston Airport (IWS), Houston, Texas, United States and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,070 miles (or 1,722 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 West Houston Airport and Ellsworth Air Force Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | IWS / KIWS |
Airport Name: | West Houston Airport |
Location: | Houston, Texas, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 29°49'5"N by 95°40'20"W |
Area Served: | Houston, Texas |
Operator/Owner: | West Houston Airport Corp. |
Airport Type: | Public use |
Elevation: | 111 feet (34 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from IWS |
More Information: | IWS 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 West Houston Airport (IWS):
- This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation reliever airport.Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center in Houston is the airport's designated ARTCC.
- West Houston Airport is a privately owned, public use use airport in Harris County, Texas, United States.
- Because of West Houston Airport's relatively low elevation of 111 feet, planes can take off or land at West Houston Airport 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.
- West Houston Airport (IWS) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to West Houston Airport (IWS) is Andrau Airpark (AAP), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) SE of IWS.
- The furthest airport from West Houston Airport (IWS) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 10,979 miles (17,668 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
- Airport ticket counter
Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):
- In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
- Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
- 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.
- 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.
- On 2 January 1942, the U.S.
- 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 1986, the base and the 28 BMW made extensive preparations to phase out the aging B-52 fleet and become the second home for the advanced B-1B Lancer.
- 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 host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.