Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and San Diego, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and NAS North Island (NZY), San Diego, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,098 miles (or 1,766 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 North Island, 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):

• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• The 44th Missile Wing, however, had ably accomplished its deterrence mission.
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• Military organizations periodically upgrade manpower and machines from time to time to meet new national security requirements and Ellsworth Air Force Base's organizations were no exception.
• 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.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.

Facts about NAS North Island (NZY):

• The closest airport to NAS North Island (NZY) is San Diego International Airport (SAN), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) NNE of NZY.
• Naval Air Station North Island or NAS North Island is located at the north end of the Coronado peninsula on San Diego Bay and is the home port of several aircraft carriers of the United States Navy.
• With all the ships in port, the population of the station is nearly 35,000 active duty military, selected reserve military, and civilian personnel.
• The list of American military pilots trained at North Island reads like the Who's Who of aviation.
• The Commanding Officer of NAS North Island is also the Commanding Officer, Naval Base Coronado.
• In addition to being known as "NAS North Island", another name for NZY is "Halsey Field".
• NAS North Island (NZY) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from NAS North Island (NZY) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,542 miles (18,575 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Because of NAS North Island's relatively low elevation of 26 feet, planes can take off or land at NAS North Island 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.