Nonstop flight route between Van, Turkey and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from VAN to RCA:
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- About this route
- VAN Airport Information
- RCA Airport Information
- Facts about VAN
- Facts about RCA
- Map of Nearest Airports to VAN
- List of Nearest Airports to VAN
- Map of Furthest Airports from VAN
- List of Furthest Airports from VAN
- 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 Van Ferit Melen Airport (VAN), Van, Turkey and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,356 miles (or 10,229 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 Van Ferit Melen Airport and Ellsworth Air Force Base, 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 Van Ferit Melen Airport and Ellsworth Air Force Base. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | VAN / LTCI |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Van, Turkey |
GPS Coordinates: | 38°28'5"N by 43°19'55"E |
Area Served: | Van |
Operator/Owner: | Turkish Government Airport Management |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 5480 feet (1,670 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from VAN |
More Information: | VAN 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 Van Ferit Melen Airport (VAN):
- In addition to being known as "Van Ferit Melen Airport", another name for VAN is "Ferit Melen Havaalanı".
- Because of Van Ferit Melen Airport's high elevation of 5,480 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at VAN. Combined with a high temperature, this could make VAN a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- The furthest airport from Van Ferit Melen Airport (VAN) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is located 11,369 miles (18,296 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.
- Van Ferit Melen Airport (VAN) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Van Ferit Melen Airport (VAN) is Agri Airport (AJI), which is located 84 miles (134 kilometers) N of VAN.
Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):
- Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 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.
- 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.