Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Tampa, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and MacDill Air Force Base (MCF), Tampa, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,600 miles (or 2,575 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 relatively short distance between Ellsworth Air Force Base and MacDill Air Force Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• 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 1986, the base and the 28 BMW made extensive preparations to phase out the aging B-52 fleet and become the second home for the advanced B-1B Lancer.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.

Facts about MacDill Air Force Base (MCF):

• Also located at MacDill are a division of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the Joint Communications Support Element, the Florida Air National Guard's 290th Joint Communications Support Squadron, the Navy Reserve Forces Command's Navy Operational Support Center Tampa, the US Army's 297th Military Intelligence Battalion, the Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory, activities of the U.S.
• The base also supports the large military retiree community in the Tampa Bay area and surrounding environs.
• In February 1945, the 323d Combat Crew Training Wing was established at the base with a mission of training B-29 Superfortress aircrews.
• The furthest airport from MacDill Air Force Base (MCF) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,436 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• After the war in Europe had broken out in September 1939, fears of Nazi U-Boats attacking American shipping in the Gulf of Mexico was the concern of the War Department.
• In addition MacDill provided transitional training in the B-17 Flying Fortress.
• In addition to being known as "MacDill Air Force Base", another name for MCF is "MacDill AFB".
• All of these airfields came under the jurisdiction of Third Air Force.
• The closest airport to MacDill Air Force Base (MCF) is Peter O. Knight Airport (TPF), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) NE of MCF.