Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Tucson, Arizona, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Tucson International Airport (TUS), Tucson, Arizona, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 934 miles (or 1,503 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 Tucson International Airport, 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):

• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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 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.
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• 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.
• 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.
• On 15 July 1945, the 225th AAFBU was inactivated and Rapid City AAB was placed on standby status as the Army Air Forces began to demobilize.

Facts about Tucson International Airport (TUS):

• In January 2014, the Tucson Airport Authority board approved a no-cost, 20-year property lease with the Federal Aviation Administration for property on which to build a new federally-funded control tower to replace the 1950s vintage tower currently in use.
• The closest airport to Tucson International Airport (TUS) is Davis–Monthan Air Force Base (DMA), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) NE of TUS.
• All international arrivals and departures use the Main Terminal.
• Tucson International Airport handled 1,779,679 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Tucson International Airport (TUS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,513 miles (18,528 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Tucson International Airport (TUS) has 3 runways.
• Tucson International Airport is a public joint civil-military airport owned by the City of Tucson 8 mi south of downtown Tucson, in Pima County, Arizona.
• The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a primary commercial service airport since it has over 10,000 passenger boardings per year.Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 1,779,679 enplanements in 2011, a decrease from 1,844,228 in 2010.
• In 1948 the Tucson Airport Authority was created as a non-profit corporation to operate the airport and oversee policy decisions.