Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Ebadon Airstrip (EBN), Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,760 miles (or 9,270 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 large distance between Ellsworth Air Force Base and Ebadon Airstrip, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Ellsworth Air Force Base and Ebadon Airstrip. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• 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 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.

Facts about Ebadon Airstrip (EBN):

• The closest airport to Ebadon Airstrip (EBN) is Bucholz Army Airfield (KWA), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) NNW of EBN.
• Because of Ebadon Airstrip's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Ebadon Airstrip 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.
• As a result of the Battle of Kwajalein, the lagoon contains wrecks of mostly Japanese ships and a few planes.
• The islands of the atoll, particularly the main island, served as a rural copra-trading outpost administered by Japanese civilians under the Japanese Mandated "South Seas" Islands of Micronesia for twenty-two years.
• On February 1, 1942, the USS Enterprise launched a series of raids on the Roi Namur airfield and merchant shipping in Carlos Pass, where they sank several ships.
• Ennylabegan, or "Carlos" Islet, is also site of a small Marshall Islander community that has decreased in size in recent decades but was once a bigger village.
• The furthest airport from Ebadon Airstrip (EBN) is RAF Ascension (ASI), which is nearly antipodal to Ebadon Airstrip (meaning Ebadon Airstrip is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from RAF Ascension), and is located 12,282 miles (19,767 kilometers) away in Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena.