Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Nome, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Nome Airport (OME), Nome, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,727 miles (or 4,389 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 Nome 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 Nome 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):

• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• On 1 June 1971, SAC deactivated the 821st Strategic Aerospace Division and by October of that year, an upgraded LGM-30F Minuteman II also replaced the Minuteman I missiles.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• 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.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• 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.

Facts about Nome Airport (OME):

• Because of Nome Airport's relatively low elevation of 37 feet, planes can take off or land at Nome Airport 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.
• In addition to being known as "Nome Airport", another name for OME is "(former Marks Air Force Base)".
• Nome Airport (OME) has 2 runways.
• Nome Airport is a state owned, public use airport located two nautical miles west of the central business district of Nome, a city in the Nome Census Area of the U.S.
• In World War II, the civilian Nome Airport shared use of the runway with Marks Army Airfield for transfer of Lend-Lease aircraft to the Soviet Union and in 1942, for air defense of the western coast of Alaska.
• The closest airport to Nome Airport (OME) is Teller Airport (TLA), which is located 57 miles (91 kilometers) NNW of OME.
• The furthest airport from Nome Airport (OME) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,320 miles (16,608 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.