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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Grosseto Airport (GRS), Grosseto, Italy would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,188 miles (or 8,349 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 Grosseto 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 Grosseto 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.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• 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.
• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• 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.
• The 12th Air Division moved to Ellsworth on 15 July 1988.

Facts about Grosseto Airport (GRS):

• The furthest airport from Grosseto Airport (GRS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Grosseto Airport (meaning Grosseto Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,051 miles (19,395 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Although it is classified as a "joint use" facility, Grosseto Air Base is primarily an Italian Air Force Base, home of the 4th Stormo, equipped with the Eurofighter Typhoon.
• The airport resides at an elevation of 15 feet above mean sea level.
• Grosseto Airport handled 4,382 passengers last year.
• Grosseto Airport (GRS) has 2 runways.
• Because of Grosseto Airport's relatively low elevation of 15 feet, planes can take off or land at Grosseto 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.
• The closest airport to Grosseto Airport (GRS) is Siena-Ampugnano Airport (SAY), which is located 36 miles (57 kilometers) NNE of GRS.
• In addition to being known as "Grosseto Airport", other names for GRS include "Aeroporto di Grosseto" and "Grosseto Airport".