Nonstop flight route between Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Pelotas International Airport (PET), Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,139 miles (or 9,879 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 Pelotas International 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 Pelotas International 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 Pelotas International Airport (PET):

• In addition to being known as "Pelotas International Airport", another name for PET is "Aeroporto Internacional de Pelotas".
• The closest airport to Pelotas International Airport (PET) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) SSE of PET.
• Pelotas International Airport handled 9,965 passengers last year.
• It is operated by Infraero.
• In 1997 the whole airport complex was extensively renovated and a new terminal was opened in 1998.
• Because of Pelotas International Airport's relatively low elevation of 59 feet, planes can take off or land at Pelotas International 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.
• On June 22, 1927 the city of Pelotas received the first official commercial passenger flight operated by the first Brazilian airline, Varig, founded only a month earlier.
• Pelotas International Airport (PET) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Pelotas International Airport (PET) is Fukue Airport (FUJ), which is nearly antipodal to Pelotas International Airport (meaning Pelotas International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Fukue Airport), and is located 12,342 miles (19,863 kilometers) away in Gotō, Nagasaki, Japan.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• On 1 June 1992, as part of the first major reorganization since the creation of USAF, the Air Force inactivated Strategic Air Command and assigned Ellsworth's organizations ) to the newly activated Air Combat Command.
• 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.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• The base experienced one of its worst peacetime tragedies in March 1953 when an RB-36 and its entire crew of 23 crashed in Newfoundland while returning from a routine exercise in Europe.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• 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.