Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Aspen, Colorado, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from RCA to ASE:
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- About this route
- RCA Airport Information
- ASE Airport Information
- Facts about RCA
- Facts about ASE
- 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 ASE
- List of Nearest Airports to ASE
- Map of Furthest Airports from ASE
- List of Furthest Airports from ASE
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Aspen–Pitkin County Airport (ASE), Aspen, Colorado, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 392 miles (or 631 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 Aspen–Pitkin County Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure 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 |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | ASE / KASE |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Aspen, Colorado, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 39°13'23"N by 106°52'8"W |
Area Served: | Aspen, Colorado |
Operator/Owner: | Pitkin County |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 7820 feet (2,384 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from ASE |
More Information: | ASE Maps & Info |
Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):
- In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
- 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.
- Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 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.
Facts about Aspen–Pitkin County Airport (ASE):
- One of the potential improvements included in the 2012 Updated Master Plan is the construction of a new airport terminal.
- The furthest airport from Aspen–Pitkin County Airport (ASE) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,971 miles (17,657 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- Because of Aspen–Pitkin County Airport's high elevation of 7,820 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ASE. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ASE a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- In addition to being known as "Aspen–Pitkin County Airport", another name for ASE is "Sardy Field".
- In 2007, the runway was completely rehabilitated with new grooved asphalt.
- More recently, Lynx Aviation flying on behalf of Frontier Airlines operated Bombardier Q400 turboprops into Aspen.
- Historically, the airport was served by a number of airlines over the years including Aspen Airways which introduced the first scheduled passenger jet service into Aspen.
- Mesaba Airlines operating as Northwest Airlink flew the Avro RJ85, a later version of the BAe 146 jet, on seasonal nonstop flights to Minneapolis/St.
- Aspen–Pitkin County Airport (ASE) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Aspen–Pitkin County Airport (ASE) is Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) N of ASE.