Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Coningsby, England, United Kingdom:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from RCA to QCY:
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- About this route
- RCA Airport Information
- QCY Airport Information
- Facts about RCA
- Facts about QCY
- 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 QCY
- List of Nearest Airports to QCY
- Map of Furthest Airports from QCY
- List of Furthest Airports from QCY
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and RAF Coningsby (QCY), Coningsby, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,323 miles (or 6,957 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 RAF Coningsby, 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 RAF Coningsby. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | RCA / KRCA |
Airport Names: |
|
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: | QCY / EGXC |
Airport Name: | RAF Coningsby |
Location: | Coningsby, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 53°5'35"N by 0°9'57"W |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from QCY |
More Information: | QCY 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.
- An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
- 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.
- 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 base experienced one of its worst peacetime tragedies in March 1953 when an RB-36 and its entire crew of 23 crashed in Newfoundland while returning from a routine exercise in Europe.
- In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
- On 2 January 1942, the U.S.
Facts about RAF Coningsby (QCY):
- Coningsby is also the home to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and their Visitor Centre.
- The closest airport to RAF Coningsby (QCY) is RAF Binbrook (GSY), which is located 24 miles (39 kilometers) N of QCY.
- The BBMF is accessed via a separate side entrance, with a car park, to the west of the airfield.
- The furthest airport from RAF Coningsby (QCY) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,781 miles (18,959 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
- The RAF Coningsby structure as of October 2010
- The base received its first jet aircraft — the English Electric Canberra — in 1953.