Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kalaupapa, Hawaii, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kalaupapa Airport (LUP), Kalaupapa, Hawaii, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,437 miles (or 5,532 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 Kalaupapa 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 Kalaupapa 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 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.
• 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.
• 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 AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• 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 AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
• On 1 June 1992, as part of the first major reorganization since the creation of USAF, the Air Force inactivated Strategic Air Command and assigned Ellsworth's organizations ) to the newly activated Air Combat Command.

Facts about Kalaupapa Airport (LUP):

• The furthest airport from Kalaupapa Airport (LUP) is Maun Airport (MUB), which is nearly antipodal to Kalaupapa Airport (meaning Kalaupapa Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Maun Airport), and is located 12,347 miles (19,871 kilometers) away in Maun, Botswana.
• On December 11, 2013, a Makani Kai Air Cessna Grand Caravan bound for Honolulu crashed into the ocean shortly after taking off from Kalauapapa.
• Kalaupapa Airport (LUP) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Kalaupapa Airport's relatively low elevation of 24 feet, planes can take off or land at Kalaupapa 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 offers scheduled passenger service from Makani Kai Air, which began providing Essential Air Service subsidized scheduled passenger service in January 2012, using two nine-seat Cessna Grand Caravans.
• The closest airport to Kalaupapa Airport (LUP) is Molokai Airport (MKK), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) WSW of LUP.