Nonstop flight route between Jacksonville, Florida, United States and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from NIP to RCA:
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- About this route
- NIP Airport Information
- RCA Airport Information
- Facts about NIP
- Facts about RCA
- Map of Nearest Airports to NIP
- List of Nearest Airports to NIP
- Map of Furthest Airports from NIP
- List of Furthest Airports from NIP
- 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 NAS Jacksonville (NIP), Jacksonville, Florida, United States and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,512 miles (or 2,433 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 NAS Jacksonville 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: | NIP / KNIP |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Jacksonville, Florida, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 30°14'8"N by 81°40'50"W |
| Operator/Owner: | United States Navy |
| Airport Type: | Military: Naval Air Station |
| Elevation: | 22 feet (7 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from NIP |
| More Information: | NIP 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 NAS Jacksonville (NIP):
- The closest airport to NAS Jacksonville (NIP) is Jacksonville Executive at Craig Airport (CRG), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) NE of NIP.
- In March 1959, Marine Attack Squadron ONE FOUR TWO of the Marine Corps Reserve relocated to NAS Jacksonville from the closing MCAS Miami, along with the associated Marine Air Reserve Training Detachment.
- More than 700 buildings sprung to life on the base before V-J Day, including an 80-acre hospital and a prisoner-of-war compound which housed more than 1,500 German prisoners of war.
- With the BRAC-directed closure of NAS Brunswick, Maine by mid-2011, Patrol Squadron EIGHT, Patrol Squadron TEN, Patrol Squadron TWENTY-SIX, Special Projects Patrol Squadron ONE and Fleet Logistics Support Squadron SIXTY-TWO began relocating to NAS Jacksonville in 2007 with their P-3C and C-130T aircraft, with all of these squadrons in place at NAS Jacksonville by late 2010.
- In 1973, with the assignment of Helicopter Antisubmarine Wing One, the station’s primary mission became antisubmarine warfare.
- In addition to being known as "NAS Jacksonville", another name for NIP is "Towers Field".
- NAS Jacksonville (NIP) has 2 runways.
- The furthest airport from NAS Jacksonville (NIP) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,460 miles (18,444 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
- Because of NAS Jacksonville's relatively low elevation of 22 feet, planes can take off or land at NAS Jacksonville 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.
Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (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.
- 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 base experienced one of its worst peacetime tragedies in March 1953 when an RB-36 and its entire crew of 23 crashed in Newfoundland while returning from a routine exercise in Europe.
- In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
- 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.
- The Titan I's life span was short in western South Dakota.
- 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.
