Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kwajalein, Marshall Islands:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from RCA to KWA:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- RCA Airport Information
- KWA Airport Information
- Facts about RCA
- Facts about KWA
- 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 KWA
- List of Nearest Airports to KWA
- Map of Furthest Airports from KWA
- List of Furthest Airports from KWA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Bucholz Army Airfield (KWA), Kwajalein, 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 Bucholz Army Airfield, 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 Bucholz Army Airfield. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | RCA / KRCA |
Airport Names: |
|
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: | KWA / PKWA |
Airport Name: | Bucholz Army Airfield |
Location: | Kwajalein, Marshall Islands |
GPS Coordinates: | 8°43'12"N by 167°43'54"E |
Operator/Owner: | United States Army |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 9 feet (3 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from KWA |
More Information: | KWA 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".
- Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
- 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.
- The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
- 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.
- On 1 June 1992, as part of the first major reorganization since the creation of USAF, the Air Force inactivated Strategic Air Command and assigned Ellsworth's organizations ) to the newly activated Air Combat Command.
Facts about Bucholz Army Airfield (KWA):
- The furthest airport from Bucholz Army Airfield (KWA) is RAF Ascension (ASI), which is nearly antipodal to Bucholz Army Airfield (meaning Bucholz Army Airfield is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from RAF Ascension), and is located 12,283 miles (19,767 kilometers) away in Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena.
- Bucholz Army Airfield is a United States Army airfield located on Kwajalein Island, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands.
- Bucholz Army Airfield (KWA) currently has only 1 runway.
- Because of Bucholz Army Airfield's relatively low elevation of 9 feet, planes can take off or land at Bucholz Army Airfield 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.
- The closest airport to Bucholz Army Airfield (KWA) is Ebadon Airstrip (EBN), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) SSE of KWA.
- As of 2009, Bucholz Army Airfield is still operated by the United States Army.
- After the seizure from the Japanese, Kwajalein was developed into a major American base and staging area for further campaigns in the advance on the Japanese homeland.