Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Fletcher, North Carolina, United States:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from RCA to AVL:
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- About this route
- RCA Airport Information
- AVL Airport Information
- Facts about RCA
- Facts about AVL
- Map of Nearest Airports to RCA
- List of Nearest Airports to RCA
- Map of Furthest Airports from RCA
- List of Furthest Airports from RCA
- Map of Nearest Airports to AVL
- List of Nearest Airports to AVL
- Map of Furthest Airports from AVL
- List of Furthest Airports from AVL
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Asheville Regional Airport (AVL), Fletcher, North Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,240 miles (or 1,996 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base and Asheville Regional Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure 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 |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | AVL / KAVL |
Airport Name: | Asheville Regional Airport |
Location: | Fletcher, North Carolina, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 35°26'9"N by 82°32'30"W |
Area Served: | Asheville, North Carolina |
Operator/Owner: | City of Asheville |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 2165 feet (660 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from AVL |
More Information: | AVL Maps & Info |
Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):
- The 740th AC&W Squadron began operations in 1955 with AN/MPS-7 search radar, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept and warning station.
- 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 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.
- In 1986, the base and the 28 BMW made extensive preparations to phase out the aging B-52 fleet and become the second home for the advanced B-1B Lancer.
- Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
- In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
- Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
- 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.
- An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
Facts about Asheville Regional Airport (AVL):
- The closest airport to Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) is Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport (GSP), which is located 42 miles (67 kilometers) SSE of AVL.
- Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,430 miles (18,395 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
- A Concorde visited AVL during a 1987 promotional tour and was snowed-in overnight.
- On March 14, 2003 a Cessna 177 Cardinal crashed into Old Fort Mountain after taking off from the airport.