Nonstop flight route between Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport (FLN), Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,039 miles (or 9,718 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 Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz 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 Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz 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 Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport (FLN):

• Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport handled 3,395,253 passengers last year.
• Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport, is the airport serving Florianópolis, Brazil.
• In addition to being known as "Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport", another name for FLN is "Aeroporto Internacional de Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz".
• The furthest airport from Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport (FLN) is Kikai Airport (KKX), which is nearly antipodal to Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport (meaning Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Kikai Airport), and is located 12,334 miles (19,849 kilometers) away in Kikaiga Shima, Kikai-Shima Island, Japan.
• Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport (FLN) has 2 runways.
• Because of Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport's relatively low elevation of 16 feet, planes can take off or land at Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz 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.
• In the period between 1952 and 1954 the passenger terminal was rebuilt and was operational until 1976 when a brand-new terminal building and apron were opened.
• The closest airport to Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport (FLN) is Navegantes Airport (NVT), which is located 55 miles (89 kilometers) N of FLN.
• It is operated by Infraero.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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 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.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• 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 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 installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• The 12th Air Division moved to Ellsworth on 15 July 1988.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.