Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Roswell, New Mexico, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Roswell International Air Center (ROW), Roswell, New Mexico, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 753 miles (or 1,212 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 Roswell International Air Center, 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 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.
• 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".
• In March 1944, heavy bomber operational training ended and the 225th Army Air Force Base Unit began training of replacement personnel for deployed heavy bombardment units in the overseas combat theaters.
• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• On 1 June 1992, as part of the first major reorganization since the creation of USAF, the Air Force inactivated Strategic Air Command and assigned Ellsworth's organizations ) to the newly activated Air Combat Command.
• 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.
• After the Army closed their facilities, the military housing at the Nike Integrated Fire Control sites was transferred to control of Ellsworth, and was used as Air Force military family housing until about 1990.

Facts about Roswell International Air Center (ROW):

• Walker AFB was named after General Kenneth Newton Walker, a native of Los Cerrillos, New Mexico.
• It is also known for the Roswell UFO incident, an event that supposedly happened on July 4, 1947.
• The RIAC is home to a plastic manufacturer.
• On April 2, 2011, a Gulfstream G650 crashed shortly after takeoff from the airport during a test flight that was being conducted by the manufacturer of this large business jet, killing all four aboard.
• The site was used for several years to launch stratospheric balloons for Air Force projects.
• The furthest airport from Roswell International Air Center (ROW) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,241 miles (18,090 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The closest airport to Roswell International Air Center (ROW) is Artesia Municipal Airport (ATS), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) S of ROW.
• Roswell International Air Center (ROW) has 2 runways.
• Roswell International Air Center, also known as Roswell Industrial Air Center, is a city-owned public-use airport located seven miles south of the central business district of Roswell, a city in Chaves County, New Mexico, United States.