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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Épinal - Mirecourt Airport (EPL), Juvaincourt, Vosges, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,744 miles (or 7,635 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 Épinal - Mirecourt 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 Épinal - Mirecourt 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):

• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.

Facts about Épinal - Mirecourt Airport (EPL):

• In addition to being known as "Épinal - Mirecourt Airport", another name for EPL is "Aéroport d'Épinal - Mirecourt".
• The furthest airport from Épinal - Mirecourt Airport (EPL) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Épinal - Mirecourt Airport (meaning Épinal - Mirecourt Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,102 miles (19,477 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Épinal - Mirecourt Airport (EPL) is Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport (ETZ), which is located 46 miles (74 kilometers) N of EPL.
• Épinal - Mirecourt Airport (EPL) currently has only 1 runway.