Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Billund, Denmark:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Billund Airport (BLL), Billund, Denmark would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,490 miles (or 7,226 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 Billund Airport, 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 Billund Airport. 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):

• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• 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.
• On 15 July 1945, the 225th AAFBU was inactivated and Rapid City AAB was placed on standby status as the Army Air Forces began to demobilize.
• Air Defense Command activated the 740th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Rapid City AFB on 1 February 1953 under the ADC 31st Air Division.
• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.

Facts about Billund Airport (BLL):

• The closest airport to Billund Airport (BLL) is Esbjerg Airport (EBJ), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) WSW of BLL.
• Billund Airport (BLL) currently has only 1 runway.
• In 1997 they had an architectural competition for a new 430,000 ft² passenger terminal, designed to serve 3.5 million passengers a year, north of the original airport.
• Because of Billund Airport's relatively low elevation of 247 feet, planes can take off or land at Billund 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.
• The furthest airport from Billund Airport (BLL) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,576 miles (18,630 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Billund Airport", another name for BLL is "Billund Lufthavn".