Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Columbus, Ohio, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Port Columbus International Airport (CMH), Columbus, Ohio, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,071 miles (or 1,724 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 Port Columbus International Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• To provide air defense of the base, the United States Army established the Ellsworth AFB Defense Area in 1957 and constructed Nike-Ajax Surface-to-air missile sites for air defense.
• 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.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• 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 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 mission of the 28th Bomb Wing is to deliver decisive combat power for global response.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.

Facts about Port Columbus International Airport (CMH):

• Because of Port Columbus International Airport's relatively low elevation of 815 feet, planes can take off or land at Port Columbus 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.
• The airport opened July 8, 1929 on a site selected by Charles Lindbergh, as the eastern air terminus of the Transcontinental Air Transport air-rail New York to Los Angeles transcontinental route.
• Port Columbus International Airport (CMH) has 2 runways.
• Runway 10L/28R is just north of the 40th parallel north.
• The closest airport to Port Columbus International Airport (CMH) is Ohio State University Airport (OSU), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) WNW of CMH.
• The furthest airport from Port Columbus International Airport (CMH) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,361 miles (18,284 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The airport was the home base of short-lived Skybus Airlines, which began operations from Port Columbus on May 22, 2007.
• In 2013, the airport completed a US$140 million runway improvement.