Nonstop flight route between Mayagüez, Puerto Rico and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Eugenio María de Hostos Airport (MAZ), Mayagüez, Puerto Rico and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,739 miles (or 4,408 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 Eugenio María de Hostos 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 Eugenio María de Hostos 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 Eugenio María de Hostos Airport (MAZ):

• Eugenio María de Hostos Airport used to be the main air gateway to the western region of Puerto Rico, until Rafael Hernández Airport in Aguadilla took over that position.
• The closest airport to Eugenio María de Hostos Airport (MAZ) is Rafael Hernández Airport (BQN), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) N of MAZ.
• Because of Eugenio María de Hostos Airport's relatively low elevation of 28 feet, planes can take off or land at Eugenio María de Hostos 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.
• Eugenio María de Hostos Airport is a small public use airport located three nautical miles north of the central business district of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.
• The furthest airport from Eugenio María de Hostos Airport (MAZ) is Barrow Island Airport (BWB), which is nearly antipodal to Eugenio María de Hostos Airport (meaning Eugenio María de Hostos Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Barrow Island Airport), and is located 12,192 miles (19,620 kilometers) away in Barrow Island, Western Australia, Australia.
• Eugenio María de Hostos Airport (MAZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Eugenio María de Hostos Airport handled 12,568 passengers last year.
• The airport was served heavily by the Puerto Rican national air carrier, Prinair, during the 1970s and early 1980s.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• 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 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.
• The Titan I's life span was short in western South Dakota.
• 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.