Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Jacksonville, Florida, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from RCA to NIP:
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- About this route
- RCA Airport Information
- NIP Airport Information
- Facts about RCA
- Facts about NIP
- Map of Nearest Airports to RCA
- List of Nearest Airports to RCA
- Map of Furthest Airports from RCA
- List of Furthest Airports from RCA
- Map of Nearest Airports to NIP
- List of Nearest Airports to NIP
- Map of Furthest Airports from NIP
- List of Furthest Airports from NIP
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and NAS Jacksonville (NIP), Jacksonville, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,512 miles (or 2,433 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 NAS Jacksonville, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | RCA / KRCA |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Rapid City, South Dakota, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 44°8'47"N by 103°4'28"W |
| View all routes: | Routes from RCA |
| More Information: | RCA Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | NIP / KNIP |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Jacksonville, Florida, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 30°14'8"N by 81°40'50"W |
| Operator/Owner: | United States Navy |
| Airport Type: | Military: Naval Air Station |
| Elevation: | 22 feet (7 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from NIP |
| More Information: | NIP Maps & Info |
Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):
- The 12th Air Division moved to Ellsworth on 15 July 1988.
- The 740th AC&W Squadron began operations in 1955 with AN/MPS-7 search radar, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept and warning station.
- On 2 January 1942, the U.S.
- 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 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.
- 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.
- On 15 July 1945, the 225th AAFBU was inactivated and Rapid City AAB was placed on standby status as the Army Air Forces began to demobilize.
- Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
- In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
- 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.
Facts about NAS Jacksonville (NIP):
- In addition to being known as "NAS Jacksonville", another name for NIP is "Towers Field".
- In 1970, a major reorganization of the Naval Reserve resulted in three separate Naval Air Reserve flying squadrons, identical to their active duty Regular Navy counterparts, being activated at NAS Jacksonville.
- NAS Jacksonville continued growing throughout the late 1940s.
- Force reductions in the 1990s and early 2000s eliminated several P-3C squadrons and SH-60F/HH-60H squadrons at NAS Jacksonville, while the BRAC-directed closure of nearby NAS Cecil Field resulted in the relocation of Sea Control Wing ONE and its multiple Sea Control Squadrons operating the S-3 Viking until that aircraft's retirement from the active Fleet in 2008.
- The furthest airport from NAS Jacksonville (NIP) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,460 miles (18,444 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
- Naval Air Station Jacksonville or NAS Jacksonville is a military airport located four miles south of the central business district of Jacksonville, Florida, United States.
- In 1963 M-114 became a joint-use facility with the Federal Aviation Administration.
- The closest airport to NAS Jacksonville (NIP) is Jacksonville Executive at Craig Airport (CRG), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) NE of NIP.
- NAS Jacksonville (NIP) has 2 runways.
- Because of NAS Jacksonville's relatively low elevation of 22 feet, planes can take off or land at NAS Jacksonville 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.
