Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kansas City, Missouri, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kansas City International Airport (MCI), Kansas City, Missouri, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 546 miles (or 878 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 Kansas City International Airport, 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 airfield was again temporarily shut down from September 1946 – March 1947 and underwent a major construction program to upgrade the temporary wartime facilities to that of a permanent base.
• 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.
• 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 host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• Air Defense Command activated the 740th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Rapid City AFB on 1 February 1953 under the ADC 31st Air Division.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.

Facts about Kansas City International Airport (MCI):

• In March 2010 the airport was announced as one of the first in the US to have full-body scanners with the first one used at Southwest Airlines beginning in the summer of 2010.
• The closest airport to Kansas City International Airport (MCI) is Sherman Army AirfieldSherman Air Force Base (FLV), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) WNW of MCI.
• The airport property was in an unincorporated area of Platte County until the small town of Platte City, Missouri, annexed the airport during construction.
• The furthest airport from Kansas City International Airport (MCI) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,750 miles (17,301 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The airport has always been a civilian airport and has never had an Air National Guard unit assigned to it.
• Kansas City was planning to build an airport with room for 10,000-foot runways and knew the downtown airport wouldn't do.
• Shortly after the airport opened, TWA asked that the terminals be rebuilt to address these issues.
• Kansas City International Airport (MCI) has 3 runways.
• Along with the cramped site, there were doubts that the downtown site could handle the new Boeing 747.
• Kansas City International Airport handled 10,148,524 passengers last year.