Nonstop flight route between Saint Martin, Guadeloupe and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between L'Espérance Airport Grand Case Airport (CCE), Saint Martin, Guadeloupe and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,928 miles (or 4,713 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 L'Espérance Airport Grand Case 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 L'Espérance Airport Grand Case 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 L'Espérance Airport Grand Case Airport (CCE):

• Incoming airplanes approach the island on short final for runway 12 over the bay of Grand-Case, which is a tremendous view, on final approach.
• L'Espérance Airport Grand Case Airport (CCE) currently has only 1 runway.
• Since official opening of the new control-tower PJIA Air Traffic Controllers have two radar systems at their disposal with a range of 50 nautical miles and 250 NM.
• The furthest airport from L'Espérance Airport Grand Case Airport (CCE) is Karratha Airport (KTA), which is nearly antipodal to L'Espérance Airport Grand Case Airport (meaning L'Espérance Airport Grand Case Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Karratha Airport), and is located 12,256 miles (19,724 kilometers) away in Karratha / Dampier, Western Australia, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "L'Espérance Airport Grand Case Airport", other names for CCE include "Aérodrome de Grand-Case Espérance" and "SFG/CCE".
• Because of L'Espérance Airport Grand Case Airport's relatively low elevation of 20 feet, planes can take off or land at L'Espérance Airport Grand Case 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.
• The closest airport to L'Espérance Airport Grand Case Airport (CCE) is Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) SW of CCE.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• 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.
• The 12th Air Division moved to Ellsworth on 15 July 1988.
• 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.
• Air Defense Command activated the 740th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Rapid City AFB on 1 February 1953 under the ADC 31st Air Division.