Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Bern, Switzerland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Bern Airport (BRN), Bern, Switzerland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,860 miles (or 7,822 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 Bern 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 Bern 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):

• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• 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.
• 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 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 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.
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.

Facts about Bern Airport (BRN):

• The aircraft of the air transport service of the Swiss Air Force are stationed at Bern Airport.
• The furthest airport from Bern Airport (BRN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Bern Airport (meaning Bern Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,149 miles (19,552 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Bern Airport (BRN) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Bern Airport", other names for BRN include "Regionalflugplatz Bern-Belp" and "LSZB / LSMB".
• The closest airport to Bern Airport (BRN) is Emmen Swiss Air Base (EML), which is located 40 miles (64 kilometers) ENE of BRN.
• Bern Airport is an airport serving Bern, the de facto capital of Switzerland.