Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Whakatane, New Zealand:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from RCA to WHK:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- RCA Airport Information
- WHK Airport Information
- Facts about RCA
- Facts about WHK
- 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 WHK
- List of Nearest Airports to WHK
- Map of Furthest Airports from WHK
- List of Furthest Airports from WHK
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Whakatane Airport (WHK), Whakatane, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,549 miles (or 12,149 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 Whakatane Airport, 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 Whakatane Airport. 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: | WHK / NZWK |
Airport Name: | Whakatane Airport |
Location: | Whakatane, New Zealand |
GPS Coordinates: | 37°55'14"S by 176°54'51"E |
Elevation: | 20 feet (6 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from WHK |
More Information: | WHK Maps & Info |
Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):
- 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.
- In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
- In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
- An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
- 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.
- Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
- Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
Facts about Whakatane Airport (WHK):
- Because of Whakatane Airport's relatively low elevation of 20 feet, planes can take off or land at Whakatane Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
- The closest airport to Whakatane Airport (WHK) is Rotorua International Airport (ROT), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) WSW of WHK.
- The furthest airport from Whakatane Airport (WHK) is Granada Airport (GRX), which is nearly antipodal to Whakatane Airport (meaning Whakatane Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Granada Airport), and is located 12,374 miles (19,913 kilometers) away in Granada, Spain.
- Whakatane Airport (WHK) has 2 runways.