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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Orléans - Bricy Air Base (ORE), Orléans, France and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,613 miles (or 7,424 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 Orléans - Bricy Air Base 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 Orléans - Bricy Air Base 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 Orléans - Bricy Air Base (ORE):

• Orléans - Bricy Air Base (ORE) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Orléans - Bricy Air Base", other names for ORE include "Base aérienne 123", "« Commandant Charles Paoli »" and "Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) A-50".
• The closest airport to Orléans - Bricy Air Base (ORE) is Chartres - Champhol Aerodrome (QTJ), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) NNW of ORE.
• Because of Orléans - Bricy Air Base's relatively low elevation of 314 feet, planes can take off or land at Orléans - Bricy Air Base 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 Orléans - Bricy Air Base (ORE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Orléans - Bricy Air Base (meaning Orléans - Bricy Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,136 miles (19,531 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• After the war, the base was completely rebuilt.
• It was liberated by Allied ground forces about 22 August 1944 during the Northern France Campaign.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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 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.
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• 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.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.