Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Medellín, Colombia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and José María Córdova International Airport (MDE), Medellín, Colombia would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,111 miles (or 5,007 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 José María Córdova International 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 José María Córdova International 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):

• On 2 January 1942, the U.S.
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• 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.
• After the Army closed their facilities, the military housing at the Nike Integrated Fire Control sites was transferred to control of Ellsworth, and was used as Air Force military family housing until about 1990.

Facts about José María Córdova International Airport (MDE):

• In addition to being known as "José María Córdova International Airport", another name for MDE is "Aeropuerto Internacional José María Córdova".
• José María Córdova International Airport (MDE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from José María Córdova International Airport (MDE) is Radin Inten II Airport (RIA II) (TKG), which is nearly antipodal to José María Córdova International Airport (meaning José María Córdova International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Radin Inten II Airport (RIA II)), and is located 12,361 miles (19,892 kilometers) away in Bandar Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia.
• Because of José María Córdova International Airport's high elevation of 7,027 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MDE. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MDE a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The airport serves all major international and domestic routes in contrast to Olaya Herrera Airport which serves the Medellín area with regional flights and airlines.
• It was opened in 1985.
• The closest airport to José María Córdova International Airport (MDE) is Olaya Herrera Airport (EOH), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) WNW of MDE.
• After several obstacles, the city of Medellín has finally accepted the construction of an unpaved runway about 974 m long.