Nonstop flight route between Brussels, Belgium and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Brussels Airport (BRU), Brussels, Belgium and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,572 miles (or 7,358 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 Brussels 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 Brussels 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 Brussels Airport (BRU):

• The furthest airport from Brussels Airport (BRU) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,945 miles (19,223 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• From 6 December 2013, all passengers have 30 minutes free Wi-Fi access.
• In addition to being known as "Brussels Airport", another name for BRU is "Luchthaven Brussel-Nationaal (Dutch)Aéroport de Bruxelles-National (French)".
• Brussels Airport (BRU) has 3 runways.
• The closest airport to Brussels Airport (BRU) is Antwerp International Airport (ANR), which is located only 20 miles (32 kilometers) N of BRU.
• During the boom of commercial aviation in the 1960s and 1970s, several hangars were constructed.
• Brussels Airport handled 19,133,222 passengers last year.
• Sabena's demise meant a sharp fall in passenger traffic, a blow the airport only slowly recovered from.
• Pier B is the oldest pier that is still in use at Brussels Airport and is only used for flights outside the Schengen Area.
• Pier A is connected to the main building via a 400 metres long tunnel under the tarmac.
• Because of Brussels Airport's relatively low elevation of 184 feet, planes can take off or land at Brussels 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.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• 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 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 12th Air Division moved to Ellsworth on 15 July 1988.
• The mission of the 28th Bomb Wing is to deliver decisive combat power for global response.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.