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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Nantes Atlantique Airport (NTE), Nantes, France and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,530 miles (or 7,290 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 Nantes Atlantique 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 Nantes Atlantique 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 Nantes Atlantique Airport (NTE):

• After the war the airfield was again put into service by the French Air Force.
• Nantes Atlantique Airport handled 393,084 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Nantes Atlantique Airport (NTE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Nantes Atlantique Airport (meaning Nantes Atlantique Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,097 miles (19,468 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Nantes Atlantique Airport", another name for NTE is "Aéroport Nantes Atlantique".
• The closest airport to Nantes Atlantique Airport (NTE) is Cholet Le Pontreau Airport (CET), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) E of NTE.
• The airport is operated by the Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Nantes.
• Nantes Atlantique Airport (NTE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport also has a separate freight terminal, situated to the south of the passenger terminal, which includes 6,000 m2 of entrepôt storage.
• Because of Nantes Atlantique Airport's relatively low elevation of 90 feet, planes can take off or land at Nantes Atlantique 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.
• Regional, a regional airline, was headquartered on the grounds of Nantes Atlantique Airport.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• 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.
• 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.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• The Titan I's life span was short in western South Dakota.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.