Nonstop flight route between Gdańsk, Poland and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Gdansk Lech Walesa Airport (GDN), Gdańsk, Poland and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,813 miles (or 7,746 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 Gdansk Lech Walesa 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 Gdansk Lech Walesa 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 Gdansk Lech Walesa Airport (GDN):

• Gdansk Lech Walesa Airport has operated as a private company since 1993.
• Because of Gdansk Lech Walesa Airport's relatively low elevation of 489 feet, planes can take off or land at Gdansk Lech Walesa 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.
• Gdansk Lech Walesa Airport (GDN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Gdansk Lech Walesa Airport (GDN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,446 miles (18,421 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Gdansk Lech Walesa Airport (GDN) is Gdynia-Kosakowo Airport (QYD), which is located only 14 miles (23 kilometers) N of GDN.
• In 2006 it served 1,249,780 passengers.
• In addition to being known as "Gdansk Lech Walesa Airport", other names for GDN include "Port Lotniczy Gdańsk im. Lecha Wałęsy" and "Gdańsk".

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (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.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.