Nonstop flight route between Belém, Pará, Brazil and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport (BEL), Belém, Pará, Brazil and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,595 miles (or 7,394 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 Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International 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 Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International 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:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport (BEL):

• The closest airport to Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport (BEL) is Macapá-Alberto Alcolumbre International Airport (MCP), which is located 205 miles (329 kilometers) WNW of BEL.
• Because of Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport's relatively low elevation of 56 feet, planes can take off or land at Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport 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.
• Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport handled 3,283,527 passengers last year.
• With the outbreak of World War II air bases and airports located on the Brazilian coast became immensely important in the support of transportation of aircraft, personnel and equipment across the South Atlantic Ocean to Sierra Leone in West Africa.
• In addition to being known as "Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport", another name for BEL is "Aeroporto Internacional de Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro".
• The furthest airport from Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport (BEL) is Ayawasi Airport (AYW), which is nearly antipodal to Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport (meaning Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ayawasi Airport), and is located 12,246 miles (19,708 kilometers) away in Ayawasi, Indonesia.
• Belém/Val de Cans–Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport (BEL) has 2 runways.
• In 2012 the airport was ranked 10th in terms of cargo handled in Brazil, placing it amongst the busiest airports in the country.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• 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.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• 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.
• 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.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.