Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Oscoda, Michigan, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport (OSC), Oscoda, Michigan, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 971 miles (or 1,563 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 Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport, 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):

• Ellsworth Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 10 miles northeast of Rapid City, South Dakota just north of Box Elder, South Dakota.
• 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.
• 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.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• In 1986, the base and the 28 BMW made extensive preparations to phase out the aging B-52 fleet and become the second home for the advanced B-1B Lancer.
• 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.

Facts about Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport (OSC):

• It was built out of a portion of the decommissioned Wurtsmith Air Force Base which housed nuclear armed B-52 Stratofortress bombers during the Cold War as well as several air refueling squadrons.
• The closest airport to Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport (OSC) is Alpena County Regional Airport (APN), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) N of OSC.
• Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport (OSC) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport (OSC) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,213 miles (18,046 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport's relatively low elevation of 634 feet, planes can take off or land at Oscoda-Wurtsmith 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.
• Of note is the operations of the Yankee Air Force Museum - Wurtsmith Division.