Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Grootfontein, Namibia:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from RCA to GFY:
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- About this route
- RCA Airport Information
- GFY Airport Information
- Facts about RCA
- Facts about GFY
- 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 GFY
- List of Nearest Airports to GFY
- Map of Furthest Airports from GFY
- List of Furthest Airports from GFY
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Grootfontein Airport (GFY), Grootfontein, Namibia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,686 miles (or 13,979 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 Grootfontein 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 Grootfontein Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
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: | GFY / FYGF |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Grootfontein, Namibia |
GPS Coordinates: | 19°36'6"S by 18°7'20"E |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 4636 feet (1,413 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from GFY |
More Information: | GFY Maps & Info |
Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):
- 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.
- Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
- The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
- In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
- 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.
- In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
- 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.
Facts about Grootfontein Airport (GFY):
- The closest airport to Grootfontein Airport (GFY) is Halali Airport (HAL), which is located 115 miles (186 kilometers) WNW of GFY.
- Because of Grootfontein Airport's high elevation of 4,636 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at GFY. Combined with a high temperature, this could make GFY a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- In addition to being known as "Grootfontein Airport", another name for GFY is "Grootfontein Airport".
- The furthest airport from Grootfontein Airport (GFY) is PMRF Barking Sands (BKH), which is nearly antipodal to Grootfontein Airport (meaning Grootfontein Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from PMRF Barking Sands), and is located 12,222 miles (19,669 kilometers) away in Kekaha, Hawaii, United States.
- Grootfontein Airport (GFY) has 2 runways.