Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Cape Palmas, Liberia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Cape Palmas Airport (CPA), Cape Palmas, Liberia would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,273 miles (or 10,096 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base and Cape Palmas Airport, 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base and Cape Palmas Airport. 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base (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.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• On 1 June 1971, SAC deactivated the 821st Strategic Aerospace Division and by October of that year, an upgraded LGM-30F Minuteman II also replaced the Minuteman I missiles.

Facts about Cape Palmas Airport (CPA):

• The furthest airport from Cape Palmas Airport (CPA) is Aranuka Airport (AAK), which is nearly antipodal to Cape Palmas Airport (meaning Cape Palmas Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Aranuka Airport), and is located 12,108 miles (19,486 kilometers) away in Aranuka, Kiribati.
• The closest airport to Cape Palmas Airport (CPA) is Sasstown Airport (SAZ), which is located 54 miles (88 kilometers) WNW of CPA.
• Because of Cape Palmas Airport's relatively low elevation of 20 feet, planes can take off or land at Cape Palmas 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.
• Cape Palmas Airport (CPA) currently has only 1 runway.