Nonstop flight route between Besançon / La Vèze, France and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Besançon - La Vèze Aerodrome (QBQ), Besançon / La Vèze, France and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,798 miles (or 7,722 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 Besançon - La Vèze Aerodrome 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 Besançon - La Vèze Aerodrome 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 Besançon - La Vèze Aerodrome (QBQ):

• Besançon - La Vèze Aerodrome (QBQ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Besançon - La Vèze Aerodrome (QBQ) is Dole - Jura Airport (DLE), which is located 32 miles (52 kilometers) WSW of QBQ.
• The furthest airport from Besançon - La Vèze Aerodrome (QBQ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Besançon - La Vèze Aerodrome (meaning Besançon - La Vèze Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,172 miles (19,589 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Besançon - La Vèze Aerodrome", another name for QBQ is "Aérodrome de Besançon - La Vèze".

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• After the Army closed their facilities, the military housing at the Nike Integrated Fire Control sites was transferred to control of Ellsworth, and was used as Air Force military family housing until about 1990.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 44th Missile Wing, however, had ably accomplished its deterrence mission.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• 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.