Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Mariquita, Tolima Department, Colombia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Mariquita Airport (MQU), Mariquita, Tolima Department, Colombia would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,187 miles (or 5,129 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 Mariquita 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 Mariquita 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):

• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• 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.
• On 2 January 1942, the U.S.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.

Facts about Mariquita Airport (MQU):

• In addition to being known as "Mariquita Airport", another name for MQU is "Aeropuerto Mariquita".
• The closest airport to Mariquita Airport (MQU) is La Nubia Airport (MZL), which is located 42 miles (67 kilometers) WSW of MQU.
• The furthest airport from Mariquita Airport (MQU) is Radin Inten II Airport (RIA II) (TKG), which is nearly antipodal to Mariquita Airport (meaning Mariquita Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Radin Inten II Airport (RIA II)), and is located 12,432 miles (20,007 kilometers) away in Bandar Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia.
• Mariquita Airport (MQU) currently has only 1 runway.