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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lannion - Côte de Granit Airport (LAI), Lannion, France and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,394 miles (or 7,071 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 Lannion - Côte de Granit 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 Lannion - Côte de Granit 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 Lannion - Côte de Granit Airport (LAI):

• The closest airport to Lannion - Côte de Granit Airport (LAI) is Morlaix - Ploujean Airport (MXN), which is located only 19 miles (30 kilometers) SW of LAI.
• In addition to being known as "Lannion - Côte de Granit Airport", another name for LAI is "Aéroport de Lannion - Côte de Granit".
• Because of Lannion - Côte de Granit Airport's relatively low elevation of 290 feet, planes can take off or land at Lannion - Côte de Granit 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 furthest airport from Lannion - Côte de Granit Airport (LAI) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is nearly antipodal to Lannion - Côte de Granit Airport (meaning Lannion - Côte de Granit Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Dunedin International Airport), and is located 12,082 miles (19,444 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• Lannion - Côte de Granit Airport (LAI) currently has only 1 runway.

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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• In 1986, the base and the 28 BMW made extensive preparations to phase out the aging B-52 fleet and become the second home for the advanced B-1B Lancer.
• 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.