Nonstop flight route between Peoria, Illinois, United States and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport (PIA), Peoria, Illinois, United States and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 723 miles (or 1,163 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 General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International 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 General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport (PIA):

• This airport is in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which called it a primary commercial service airport.
• The furthest airport from General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport (PIA) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,003 miles (17,707 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport's relatively low elevation of 661 feet, planes can take off or land at General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International 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.
• General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport (PIA) has 2 runways.
• The airport is co-located with the Peoria Air National Guard Base, which is home to the 182d Airlift Wing of the Illinois Air National Guard.
• On April 25, 2007 the Greater Peoria Airport Authority announced a new 9 gate terminal will be built and the old terminal demolished.
• The closest airport to General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport (PIA) is Central Illinois Regional Airport at Bloomington-Normal (BMI), which is located 43 miles (69 kilometers) ESE of PIA.
• General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport handled 592,101 passengers last year.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• On 1 June 1992, as part of the first major reorganization since the creation of USAF, the Air Force inactivated Strategic Air Command and assigned Ellsworth's organizations ) to the newly activated Air Combat Command.
• 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 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.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.