Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Los Angeles, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Whiteman Airport (WHP), Los Angeles, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,065 miles (or 1,714 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 Whiteman 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):

• 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.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".

Facts about Whiteman Airport (WHP):

• The furthest airport from Whiteman Airport (WHP) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,467 miles (18,455 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• The closest airport to Whiteman Airport (WHP) is Bob Hope Airport (BUR), which is located only 5 miles (8 kilometers) SE of WHP.
• The airport was founded as "Whiteman Air Park" in 1946 on a farm by pilot Marvin Whiteman Sr.
• Whiteman Airport (WHP) currently has only 1 runway.