Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Rifle, Colorado, United States:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from RCA to RIL:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- RCA Airport Information
- RIL Airport Information
- Facts about RCA
- Facts about RIL
- 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 RIL
- List of Nearest Airports to RIL
- Map of Furthest Airports from RIL
- List of Furthest Airports from RIL
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Garfield County Regional Airport (RIL), Rifle, Colorado, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 399 miles (or 642 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 Garfield County Regional Airport, 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: |
|
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: | RIL / KRIL |
Airport Name: | Garfield County Regional Airport |
Location: | Rifle, Colorado, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 39°31'35"N by 107°43'36"W |
Area Served: | Garfield County, Colorado |
Operator/Owner: | Garfield County |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 5548 feet (1,691 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from RIL |
More Information: | RIL Maps & Info |
Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):
- Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
- To provide air defense of the base, the United States Army established the Ellsworth AFB Defense Area in 1957 and constructed Nike-Ajax Surface-to-air missile sites for air defense.
- Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
- 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.
- 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 Titan I's life span was short in western South Dakota.
- In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
- Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
- On 2 January 1942, the U.S.
- 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 Garfield County Regional Airport (RIL):
- Because of Garfield County Regional Airport's high elevation of 5,548 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at RIL. Combined with a high temperature, this could make RIL a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- The furthest airport from Garfield County Regional Airport (RIL) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,972 miles (17,657 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- The closest airport to Garfield County Regional Airport (RIL) is Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) E of RIL.
- Garfield County Regional Airport (RIL) currently has only 1 runway.