Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Agana, Guam:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Andersen Air Force Base (UAM), Agana, Guam would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,606 miles (or 10,631 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 Andersen Air Force Base, 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 Andersen Air Force Base. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• The 740th AC&W Squadron began operations in 1955 with AN/MPS-7 search radar, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept and warning station.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• 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.
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• 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 Andersen Air Force Base (UAM):

• The Strategic Air Command continued its 90-day unit rotational training program, and began to take over control over the base from the FEAF.
• However, the FEAF Bomber Command was inactivated in 1954 and its three B-29 wings returned stateside and replaced with B-47s.
• In 1983, the 43rd completed its transition from the B-52D to the B-52G, and thus became one of only two SAC bomber wings equipped with the Harpoon anti-ship missile.
• The closest airport to Andersen Air Force Base (UAM) is Guam International Airport (GUM), which is located only 11 miles (17 kilometers) SW of UAM.
• The first host unit at North Field was the 314th Bombardment Wing, XXI Bomber Command, Twentieth Air Force.
• The furthest airport from Andersen Air Force Base (UAM) is Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho) (SSA), which is nearly antipodal to Andersen Air Force Base (meaning Andersen Air Force Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salvador-Deputado Luís Eduardo Magalhães International Airport (2 de Julho)), and is located 12,214 miles (19,656 kilometers) away in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
• Three days after North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, the 19th Bomb Group deployed B-29s to Andersen to begin bombing targets throughout South Korea.