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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Nice Côte d'Azur Airport (NCE), Nice, France and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,008 miles (or 8,060 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 Nice Côte d'Azur 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 Nice Côte d'Azur 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 Nice Côte d'Azur Airport (NCE):

• In addition to being known as "Nice Côte d'Azur Airport", another name for NCE is "Aéroport Nice Côte d'Azur".
• The furthest airport from Nice Côte d'Azur Airport (NCE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Nice Côte d'Azur Airport (meaning Nice Côte d'Azur Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,253 miles (19,720 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Nice Côte d'Azur Airport is an international airport located 3.2 NM southwest of Nice, in the Alpes-Maritimes départment of France.
• Capacity 30,000 metric tons/year
• Because of Nice Côte d'Azur Airport's relatively low elevation of 13 feet, planes can take off or land at Nice Côte d'Azur 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.
• Nice Côte d'Azur Airport handled 11,222,042 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Nice Côte d'Azur Airport (NCE) is Monaco Heliport (MCM), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) ENE of NCE.
• Nice Côte d'Azur Airport (NCE) has 2 runways.

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.
• 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.
• Air Defense Command activated the 740th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Rapid City AFB on 1 February 1953 under the ADC 31st Air Division.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".