Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Pope Field (POB), Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,415 miles (or 2,277 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 Pope Field, 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):

• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• 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 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.
• 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 Pope Field (POB):

• The closest airport to Pope Field (POB) is Simmons Army Airfield (FBG), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) ESE of POB.
• The furthest airport from Pope Field (POB) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,630 miles (18,716 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• The United States Army Fort Bragg Garrison is the host organization at Pope Field.
• The drop zones, low-level routes, and dirt landing zones at Fort Bragg became familiar to many men bound for Southeast Asia.
• The 464th received the Mackay Trophy for the dramatic RED DRAGON/DRAGON ROUGE and BLACK DRAGON/DRAGON NOIR hostage rescue missions in the Congo in 1964.
• Original operations included photographing terrain for mapping, carrying the mail, and spotting for artillery and forest fires.
• Pope Field is a military facility located 12 miles northwest of the central business district of Fayetteville, in Cumberland County, North Carolina United States.
• Lessons learned in the Gulf War in 1990-1991 led senior defense planners to conclude that the structure of the military establishment created numerous command and control problems.
• The 1930s saw the first major expansion of the facilities at Pope.