Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Palo Alto, California, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from RCA to PAO:
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- About this route
- RCA Airport Information
- PAO Airport Information
- Facts about RCA
- Facts about PAO
- 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 PAO
- List of Nearest Airports to PAO
- Map of Furthest Airports from PAO
- List of Furthest Airports from PAO
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO), Palo Alto, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,094 miles (or 1,761 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 Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County, 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: | PAO / KPAO |
| Airport Name: | Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County |
| Location: | Palo Alto, California, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 37°27'39"N by 122°6'53"W |
| Operator/Owner: | County of Santa Clara |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 4 feet (1 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from PAO |
| More Information: | PAO Maps & Info |
Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):
- 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.
- 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 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 October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
- 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.
- In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
Facts about Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO):
- Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County covers 102 acres and has one asphalt paved runway measuring 2,443 × 70 ft.
- Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO) currently has only 1 runway.
- In 1989 a comprehensive area history analysis was conducted by Earth Metrics, based upon review of extant aerial photographs.
- The closest airport to Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO) is Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) SE of PAO.
- Because of Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County's relatively low elevation of 4 feet, planes can take off or land at Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County 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.
- The furthest airport from Palo Alto Airport of Santa Clara County (PAO) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,365 miles (18,289 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
