Nonstop flight route between Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Los Alamos Airport (LAM), Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 596 miles (or 958 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 Los Alamos 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 Los Alamos Airport (LAM):

• Because of the restricted airspace immediately to the south of the runway, and the noise-sensitive residential area just west of the runway, Los Alamos Airport employs a non-standard traffic pattern.
• The airport was built in 1947 by the Atomic Energy Commission as part of Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, but the federal government transferred the facility to county ownership in 2008.
• Because of Los Alamos Airport's high elevation of 7,171 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at LAM. Combined with a high temperature, this could make LAM a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Los Alamos Airport", another name for LAM is "Los Alamos County Airport".
• The closest airport to Los Alamos Airport (LAM) is Ohkay Owingeh Airport (ESO), which is located only 16 miles (26 kilometers) NE of LAM.
• Los Alamos Airport (LAM) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Los Alamos Airport (LAM) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,157 miles (17,956 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.

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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.