Nonstop flight route between Petrolina, Pernambuco, Brazil and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho Airport (PNZ), Petrolina, Pernambuco, Brazil and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,365 miles (or 8,635 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 Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho 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 Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho 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 Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho Airport (PNZ):

• The airport is located 9 km from downtown Petrolina and 15 km from downtown Juazeiro.
• The closest airport to Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho Airport (PNZ) is Barra Airport (BQQ), which is located 209 miles (337 kilometers) SW of PNZ.
• In addition to being known as "Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho Airport", another name for PNZ is "Aeroporto de Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho".
• It is operated by Infraero.
• The furthest airport from Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho Airport (PNZ) is Falalop Airfield (ULI), which is nearly antipodal to Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho Airport (meaning Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Falalop Airfield), and is located 12,385 miles (19,931 kilometers) away in Falalop Island, Yap, Federated States of Micronesia.
• Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho Airport handled 473,482 passengers last year.
• Petrolina–Senador Nilo Coelho Airport (PNZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• Petrolina Airport handles the exportation of fresh fruits from the São Francisco valley to Europe and the US.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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 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.
• To provide air defense of the base, the United States Army established the Ellsworth AFB Defense Area in 1957 and constructed Nike-Ajax Surface-to-air missile sites for air defense.
• 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.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• 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.