Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Portland, Maine, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Portland International Jetport (PWM), Portland, Maine, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,621 miles (or 2,608 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 Portland International Jetport, 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 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 mission of the 28th Bomb Wing is to deliver decisive combat power for global response.
• 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.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• 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.
• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• 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 Portland International Jetport (PWM):

• Because of Portland International Jetport's relatively low elevation of 76 feet, planes can take off or land at Portland International Jetport 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.
• Jet flights began in 1968, and for the first time Portland got a nonstop beyond Boston when Northeast DC-9s flew to La Guardia.
• That same year, regional Ransome Airlines, doing business as Delta Connection, began a route between Portland and Boston.
• 1987 saw the arrival of Continental Airlines, when the airline bought PEOPLExpress and took over their routes.
• The airfield was founded in the late 1920s by Dr.
• Portland International Jetport (PWM) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Portland International Jetport (PWM) is Naval Air Station Brunswick (NHZ), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) NE of PWM.
• On June 7, 2007 AirTran Airways began seasonal service to Baltimore-Washington, and to Orlando, Florida.
• The furthest airport from Portland International Jetport (PWM) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,705 miles (18,838 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.