Nonstop flight route between Carcassonne, France and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Carcassonne Airport (CCF), Carcassonne, France and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,853 miles (or 7,810 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 Carcassonne 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 Carcassonne 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 Carcassonne Airport (CCF):

• In the late 1990s the airport started taking budget flights to and from European airports and in 2006 had regular flight connections with Dublin, Shannon, Stansted, Liverpool, East Midlands and Charleroi.
• The closest airport to Carcassonne Airport (CCF) is Castres - Mazamet Airport (DCM), which is located 23 miles (38 kilometers) N of CCF.
• In addition to being known as "Carcassonne Airport", another name for CCF is "Aéroport de Carcassonne".
• In 2011, the airport served 368,000 passengers.
• The furthest airport from Carcassonne Airport (CCF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Carcassonne Airport (meaning Carcassonne Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,363 miles (19,896 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Carcassonne Airport's relatively low elevation of 434 feet, planes can take off or land at Carcassonne 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.
• Carcassonne Airport (CCF) has 2 runways.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• In March 1944, heavy bomber operational training ended and the 225th Army Air Force Base Unit began training of replacement personnel for deployed heavy bombardment units in the overseas combat theaters.
• The 740th AC&W Squadron began operations in 1955 with AN/MPS-7 search radar, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept and warning station.
• 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".
• On 1 June 1971, SAC deactivated the 821st Strategic Aerospace Division and by October of that year, an upgraded LGM-30F Minuteman II also replaced the Minuteman I missiles.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.