Nonstop flight route between Kalaupapa, Hawaii, United States and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kalaupapa Airport (LUP), Kalaupapa, Hawaii, United States and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,437 miles (or 5,532 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 large distance between Kalaupapa Airport and Ellsworth Air Force Base, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Kalaupapa Airport and Ellsworth Air Force Base. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Kalaupapa Airport (LUP):

• The closest airport to Kalaupapa Airport (LUP) is Molokai Airport (MKK), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) WSW of LUP.
• The furthest airport from Kalaupapa Airport (LUP) is Maun Airport (MUB), which is nearly antipodal to Kalaupapa Airport (meaning Kalaupapa Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Maun Airport), and is located 12,347 miles (19,871 kilometers) away in Maun, Botswana.
• On December 11, 2013, a Makani Kai Air Cessna Grand Caravan bound for Honolulu crashed into the ocean shortly after taking off from Kalauapapa.
• Kalaupapa Airport (LUP) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Kalaupapa Airport's relatively low elevation of 24 feet, planes can take off or land at Kalaupapa 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.
• As per the Federal Aviation Administration, this airport had 3,206 passenger boardings in calendar year 2007, 3,135 enplanements in 2008, 2,035 in 2009, and 1,217 in 2010.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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.
• In March 1944, heavy bomber operational training ended and the 225th Army Air Force Base Unit began training of replacement personnel for deployed heavy bombardment units in the overseas combat theaters.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• Internationally, the destruction of the Berlin Wall in October 1989 symbolized the imminent demise of the Soviet Union over the next several months.
• 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.