Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Sand Island, Midway Atoll, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Henderson Field (MDY), Sand Island, Midway Atoll, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,145 miles (or 6,670 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 Henderson Field, 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 Henderson Field. 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):

• After the Army closed their facilities, the military housing at the Nike Integrated Fire Control sites was transferred to control of Ellsworth, and was used as Air Force military family housing until about 1990.
• 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.
• 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.
• In 1986, the base and the 28 BMW made extensive preparations to phase out the aging B-52 fleet and become the second home for the advanced B-1B Lancer.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.

Facts about Henderson Field (MDY):

• Henderson Field (MDY) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Henderson Field (MDY) is Lüderitz Airport (LUD), which is located 11,656 miles (18,759 kilometers) away in Luderitz, Namibia.
• The closest airport to Henderson Field (MDY) is Johnston Atoll Airport (JON), which is located 937 miles (1,508 kilometers) SE of MDY.
• The airfield was previously served by Aloha Airlines with scheduled weekly charter flghts to and from Honolulu utilizing a Boeing 737-200 jetliner.
• Henderson Field was named after Major Lofton R.
• Because of Henderson Field's relatively low elevation of 18 feet, planes can take off or land at Henderson Field 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.