Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Funchal, Madeira, Portugal:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from RCA to FNC:
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- About this route
- RCA Airport Information
- FNC Airport Information
- Facts about RCA
- Facts about FNC
- Map of Nearest Airports to RCA
- List of Nearest Airports to RCA
- Map of Furthest Airports from RCA
- List of Furthest Airports from RCA
- Map of Nearest Airports to FNC
- List of Nearest Airports to FNC
- Map of Furthest Airports from FNC
- List of Furthest Airports from FNC
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Madeira Airport (FNC), Funchal, Madeira, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,523 miles (or 7,280 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 Madeira 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 Madeira Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | RCA / KRCA |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Rapid City, South Dakota, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 44°8'47"N by 103°4'28"W |
View all routes: | Routes from RCA |
More Information: | RCA Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | FNC / LPMA |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Funchal, Madeira, Portugal |
GPS Coordinates: | 32°41'39"N by 16°46'41"W |
Area Served: | Funchal |
Operator/Owner: | Aeroportos da Madeira |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 190 feet (58 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from FNC |
More Information: | FNC Maps & Info |
Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):
- 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 base experienced one of its worst peacetime tragedies in March 1953 when an RB-36 and its entire crew of 23 crashed in Newfoundland while returning from a routine exercise in Europe.
- The mission of the 28th Bomb Wing is to deliver decisive combat power for global response.
- 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.
- Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
- 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.
- In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
- On 1 June 1992, as part of the first major reorganization since the creation of USAF, the Air Force inactivated Strategic Air Command and assigned Ellsworth's organizations ) to the newly activated Air Combat Command.
Facts about Madeira Airport (FNC):
- Madeira Airport was officially opened on 18 July 1964, with two 1,600 m runways.
- Because of Madeira Airport's relatively low elevation of 190 feet, planes can take off or land at Madeira 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.
- In 1972, the popularity of visiting the island of Madeira increased, so the runway had to be extended to allow modern and larger aircraft to land.
- The closest airport to Madeira Airport (FNC) is Porto Santo Airport (PXO), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) NE of FNC.
- In addition to being known as "Madeira Airport", another name for FNC is "Aeroporto da Madeira".
- Funchal Airport is 13.2 km east-northeast of the regional capital Funchal.
- Madeira Airport handled 2,311,380 passengers last year.
- Madeira Airport (FNC) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Madeira Airport (FNC) is Lord Howe Island Airport (LDH), which is nearly antipodal to Madeira Airport (meaning Madeira Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Lord Howe Island Airport), and is located 12,181 miles (19,604 kilometers) away in Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, Australia.
- Between 1982 and 1986, Madeira's runway was successfully extended by 200 m to a total of 1,800 m, and also four gates were opened.