Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Ipswich, England:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Ipswich Airport (IPW), Ipswich, England would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,414 miles (or 7,103 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 Ipswich 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 Ipswich 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 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.
• 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.
• The base experienced one of its worst peacetime tragedies in March 1953 when an RB-36 and its entire crew of 23 crashed in Newfoundland while returning from a routine exercise in Europe.
• 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.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• 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 Ipswich Airport (IPW):

• The airport, over its functional lifetime, offered scheduled flights to Clacton, Southend and Jersey by Channel Airways and later to Amsterdam, Manchester by Suckling Airways.
• From its earliest days, the airport was home to a wide variety of privately owned and flying club operated aircraft.
• The furthest airport from Ipswich Airport (IPW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,859 miles (19,084 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Ipswich Airport (IPW) has 2 runways.
• Because of Ipswich Airport's relatively low elevation of 128 feet, planes can take off or land at Ipswich 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 closest airport to Ipswich Airport (IPW) is RAF Honington USAAF Station 375 (BEQ), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) NW of IPW.
• The council, who owned the site, commissioned a development report in 1990 for the site.
• The airfield was delicensed and ceased to be registered by the Civil Aviation Authority on 31 December 1996.