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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Méribel Airport (MFX), Meribel, France and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,901 miles (or 7,888 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 Méribel 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 Méribel 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 Méribel Airport (MFX):

• The furthest airport from Méribel Airport (MFX) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Méribel Airport (meaning Méribel Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,251 miles (19,716 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Méribel Airport", another name for MFX is "Aéroport de Méribel".
• Because of Méribel Airport's high elevation of 5,633 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MFX. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MFX a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Méribel Airport (MFX) is Courchevel Airport (CVF), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) ESE of MFX.
• Méribel Airport (MFX) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• Ellsworth Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 10 miles northeast of Rapid City, South Dakota just north of Box Elder, South Dakota.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
• 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 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.
• Military organizations periodically upgrade manpower and machines from time to time to meet new national security requirements and Ellsworth Air Force Base's organizations were no exception.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• Internationally, the destruction of the Berlin Wall in October 1989 symbolized the imminent demise of the Soviet Union over the next several months.