Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Aviano, Pordenone, Italy:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Aviano Air Base (AVB), Aviano, Pordenone, Italy would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,072 miles (or 8,163 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base and Aviano Air 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base and Aviano Air 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The Titan I's life span was short in western South Dakota.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.

Facts about Aviano Air Base (AVB):

• In August and September, Operation Deliberate Force began and the 31st FW conducted air strikes against Bosnian Serbs conducting ethnic purges among the Muslim population of the country.
• In addition to being known as "Aviano Air Base", another name for AVB is "Aviano AB".
• The furthest airport from Aviano Air Base (AVB) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,968 miles (19,261 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• As part of the most extensive restructuring since the Air Force became a separate service, the Tactical Air Command was inactivated and the Air Combat Command was activated and the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing was redesignated to its current name, the 31st Fighter Wing.
• The 31st Fighter Wing continued deploying forces in support of OIF and OEF, with more than one-third of the wing deploying to support operations each year from 2003 to 2007.
• During World War II, both the Italian Air Force and the German Luftwaffe flew missions from Aeroporto Pagliano e Gori.
• The closest airport to Aviano Air Base (AVB) is Belluno Airport (BLX), which is located only 19 miles (31 kilometers) WNW of AVB.