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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Gibraltar International Airport (GIB), Gibraltar would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,875 miles (or 7,845 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 Gibraltar International 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 Gibraltar International 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 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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 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.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• The Titan I's life span was short in western South Dakota.
• 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.

Facts about Gibraltar International Airport (GIB):

• On 10 January 2012, Gibraltar was selected as one of the 'World's Scariest Airport Landings and Take-offs' in the travel section of the Daily Telegraph due to its runway which extends into the sea.
• Gibraltar International Airport handled 383,013 passengers last year.
• The road across the runway is constraining operations at the airport, especially with the increase in operations since the Córdoba Agreement.
• The furthest airport from Gibraltar International Airport (GIB) is Whangarei Airport (WRE), which is nearly antipodal to Gibraltar International Airport (meaning Gibraltar International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Whangarei Airport), and is located 12,406 miles (19,965 kilometers) away in Whangarei, New Zealand.
• Gibraltar International Airport (GIB) currently has only 1 runway.
• A new terminal has been constructed at Gibraltar International due to the high number of passengers using it.
• Since then, Spain successfully excluded Gibraltar from European wide de-regulation initiatives, preventing direct links from Gibraltar to the rest of the European Union, on the grounds that no regulation that somehow recognises the sovereignty of the United Kingdom over the Gibraltar peninsula may be implemented without a previous agreement on the airport.
• The closest airport to Gibraltar International Airport (GIB) is Ceuta Heliport (JCU), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) S of GIB.
• Because of Gibraltar International Airport's relatively low elevation of 15 feet, planes can take off or land at Gibraltar International 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 addition to being known as "Gibraltar International Airport", another name for GIB is "(North Front Airport)".