Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Exeter, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Exeter International Airport (EXT), Exeter, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,313 miles (or 6,940 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 Exeter International 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 Exeter International 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):

• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• 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.
• 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.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• In March 1944, heavy bomber operational training ended and the 225th Army Air Force Base Unit began training of replacement personnel for deployed heavy bombardment units in the overseas combat theaters.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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 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.

Facts about Exeter International Airport (EXT):

• The closest airport to Exeter International Airport (EXT) is Plymouth City Airport (PLH), which is located 37 miles (60 kilometers) SW of EXT.
• Exeter International Airport handled 741,465 passengers last year.
• Post-war, Exeter was reclaimed by Fighter Command and a French Supermarine Spitfire squadron, No.
• RAF Exeter was also used by the United States Army Air Forces Ninth Air Force as a D-Day troop transport base with Douglas C-47 Skytrain transports dropping paratroops near Carentan to land on the Normandy Beachhead.
• Because of Exeter International Airport's relatively low elevation of 102 feet, planes can take off or land at Exeter 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.
• Exeter was a joint RAF/Civil airfield in the 1960s.
• Exeter International Airport is an airport located at Clyst Honiton in the District of East Devon close to the city of Exeter and within the county of Devon, South West England.
• On 5 January 2007 a majority share of the airport was sold by Devon County Council to Regional and City Airports Ltd, a consortium led by construction firm Balfour Beatty.
• Despite extensive efforts at camouflage, including painting the runways, Exeter attracted the Luftwaffe on a number of occasions during the early years of the conflict and a few of the administrative and technical buildings were destroyed.
• Capital Aviation is based at Exeter and offers a number of commercial services.
• The furthest airport from Exeter International Airport (EXT) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,994 miles (19,302 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• Exeter International Airport (EXT) currently has only 1 runway.