Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Taroa Island, Maloelap Atoll, Marshall Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Maloelap Airport (MAV), Taroa Island, Maloelap Atoll, Marshall Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,588 miles (or 8,992 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 Maloelap 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 Maloelap 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):

• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• 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 Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• The Titan I's life span was short in western South Dakota.
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
• 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.

Facts about Maloelap Airport (MAV):

• The closest airport to Maloelap Airport (MAV) is Kaben Airport (KBT), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) WNW of MAV.
• In addition to being known as "Maloelap Airport", other names for MAV include "Taroa Airfield" and "3N1".
• Because of Maloelap Airport's relatively low elevation of 4 feet, planes can take off or land at Maloelap 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.
• Maloelap Airport (MAV) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Maloelap Airport (MAV) is RAF Ascension (ASI), which is nearly antipodal to Maloelap Airport (meaning Maloelap Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from RAF Ascension), and is located 12,049 miles (19,391 kilometers) away in Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena.