Nonstop flight route between Bristol, England, United Kingdom and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Bristol Airport (BRS), Bristol, England, United Kingdom and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,310 miles (or 6,936 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 Bristol 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 Bristol 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 Bristol Airport (BRS):

• Because of Bristol Airport's relatively low elevation of 622 feet, planes can take off or land at Bristol 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.
• In response to the UK Governments's 2003 White Paper The Future of Air Transport, the airport published a Master Plan for expansion over the period 2006–2030.
• In 1988 the airport opened a new concourse area.
• Bristol Airport (BRS) currently has only 1 runway.
• Bristol Airport handled 6,131,896 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Bristol Airport (BRS) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,941 miles (19,217 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• On 6 February 1945, 1540 BATF left for RAF Weston Zoyland.
• The closest airport to Bristol Airport (BRS) is Bristol Filton Airport (FZO), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) NNE of BRS.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• 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 airfield was again temporarily shut down from September 1946 – March 1947 and underwent a major construction program to upgrade the temporary wartime facilities to that of a permanent base.
• 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.