Nonstop flight route between Boulder, Colorado, United States and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from WBU to RCA:
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- About this route
- WBU Airport Information
- RCA Airport Information
- Facts about WBU
- Facts about RCA
- Map of Nearest Airports to WBU
- List of Nearest Airports to WBU
- Map of Furthest Airports from WBU
- List of Furthest Airports from WBU
- Map of Nearest Airports to RCA
- List of Nearest Airports to RCA
- Map of Furthest Airports from RCA
- List of Furthest Airports from RCA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Boulder Municipal Airport (WBU), Boulder, Colorado, United States and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 304 miles (or 490 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 Boulder Municipal Airport and Ellsworth Air Force Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | WBU / KBDU |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Boulder, Colorado, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 40°2'21"N by 105°13'32"W |
| Operator/Owner: | City of Boulder |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 5288 feet (1,612 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from WBU |
| More Information: | WBU Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | RCA / KRCA |
| Airport Names: |
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| 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 |
Facts about Boulder Municipal Airport (WBU):
- In addition to being known as "Boulder Municipal Airport", another name for WBU is "BDU".
- Boulder Municipal Airport (WBU) has 2 runways.
- Boulder Municipal Airport is a public airport located 3 miles northeast of the central business district of Boulder, a city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States.
- The furthest airport from Boulder Municipal Airport (WBU) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,881 miles (17,511 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- Because of Boulder Municipal Airport's high elevation of 5,288 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at WBU. Combined with a high temperature, this could make WBU a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- The closest airport to Boulder Municipal Airport (WBU) is Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (BJC), which is located only 11 miles (17 kilometers) SSE of WBU.
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.
- 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 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.
- Internationally, the destruction of the Berlin Wall in October 1989 symbolized the imminent demise of the Soviet Union over the next several months.
- 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.
- When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
- In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
- An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
- 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 2 January 1942, the U.S.
