Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Presidente João Suassuna Airport (CPV), Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,470 miles (or 8,803 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 Presidente João Suassuna 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 Presidente João Suassuna 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):

• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• Internationally, the destruction of the Berlin Wall in October 1989 symbolized the imminent demise of the Soviet Union over the next several months.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• 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.
• 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.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".

Facts about Presidente João Suassuna Airport (CPV):

• Since 1980 the airport is operated by Infraero, which in 1984 and 1998 made large renovation works, which included a new terminal capable of handling 250,000 passengers/year, and the rebuilding of the apron and runway.
• Presidente João Suassuna Airport (CPV) currently has only 1 runway.
• Presidente João Suassuna Airport handled 143,766 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Presidente João Suassuna Airport (CPV) is Falalop Airfield (ULI), which is nearly antipodal to Presidente João Suassuna Airport (meaning Presidente João Suassuna Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Falalop Airfield), and is located 12,086 miles (19,451 kilometers) away in Falalop Island, Yap, Federated States of Micronesia.
• The airport is located 7 km from downtown Campina Grande.
• The closest airport to Presidente João Suassuna Airport (CPV) is Presidente Castro Pinto International Airport (JPA), which is located 65 miles (105 kilometers) E of CPV.
• In addition to being known as "Presidente João Suassuna Airport", another name for CPV is "Aeroporto Presidente João Suassuna".