Nonstop flight route between Comayagua, Honduras and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from XPL to RCA:
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- About this route
- XPL Airport Information
- RCA Airport Information
- Facts about XPL
- Facts about RCA
- Map of Nearest Airports to XPL
- List of Nearest Airports to XPL
- Map of Furthest Airports from XPL
- List of Furthest Airports from XPL
- 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 Soto Cano Air Base (XPL), Comayagua, Honduras and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,249 miles (or 3,619 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 Soto Cano Air Base 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: | XPL / MHSC |
| Airport Name: | Soto Cano Air Base |
| Location: | Comayagua, Honduras |
| GPS Coordinates: | 14°22'57"N by 87°37'15"W |
| Airport Type: | Military |
| Elevation: | 2060 feet (628 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from XPL |
| More Information: | XPL 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 Soto Cano Air Base (XPL):
- The American contingent at Soto Cano Air Base is designated Joint Task Force-Bravo and consists of both U.S.
- Personnel assigned to Soto Cano can ride a bus that will transport them to Soto Cano from Tegucigalpa.
- The Constitution of Honduras does not permit a permanent foreign presence in Honduras.
- All military personnel live on the installation.
- Soto Cano Air Base (XPL) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Soto Cano Air Base (XPL) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is nearly antipodal to Soto Cano Air Base (meaning Soto Cano Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport), and is located 12,101 miles (19,475 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
- The closest airport to Soto Cano Air Base (XPL) is Marcala Airport (MRJ), which is located 32 miles (51 kilometers) WSW of XPL.
Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):
- The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
- 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 1 June 1971, SAC deactivated the 821st Strategic Aerospace Division and by October of that year, an upgraded LGM-30F Minuteman II also replaced the Minuteman I missiles.
- In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
