Nonstop flight route between Fort Myers, Florida, United States and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW), Fort Myers, Florida, United States and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,700 miles (or 2,736 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 Southwest Florida International Airport and Ellsworth Air Force Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW):

• The designator RSW was assigned for "Regional South-West".
• RSW was conceived in 1973 when it was clear that the existing airport in Fort Myers, Page Field, would be too small.
• Because of Southwest Florida International Airport's relatively low elevation of 30 feet, planes can take off or land at Southwest Florida International 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.
• Southwest Florida International Airport handled 7,637,801 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,486 miles (18,485 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 1988 the airport exceeded its annual capacity of 3 million passengers.
• The closest airport to Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) is Page Field (FMY), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) WNW of RSW.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• The airfield was again temporarily shut down from September 1946 – March 1947 and underwent a major construction program to upgrade the temporary wartime facilities to that of a permanent base.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.