Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Chambéry, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Chambéry Airport (CMF), Chambéry, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,866 miles (or 7,831 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 Chambéry 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 Chambéry 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):

• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air 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 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.

Facts about Chambéry Airport (CMF):

• The closest airport to Chambéry Airport (CMF) is Grenoble–Isère Airport (GNB), which is located 33 miles (53 kilometers) SW of CMF.
• Chambéry Airport (CMF) has 2 runways.
• Chambéry Airport handled 233,749 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Chambéry Airport (CMF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Chambéry Airport (meaning Chambéry Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,266 miles (19,740 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Chambéry Airport", another name for CMF is "Aéroport de Chambéry – Savoie".
• Because of Chambéry Airport's relatively low elevation of 768 feet, planes can take off or land at Chambéry 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.