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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Ceuta Heliport (JCU), Ceuta, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,888 miles (or 7,867 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 Ceuta Heliport, 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 Ceuta Heliport. 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 12th Air Division moved to Ellsworth on 15 July 1988.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• 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.
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• 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.
• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• 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".
• 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 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 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.

Facts about Ceuta Heliport (JCU):

• The closest airport to Ceuta Heliport (JCU) is Gibraltar International Airport (GIB), which is located only 18 miles (29 kilometers) N of JCU.
• Ceuta Heliport handled 5,673 passengers last year.
• Since 9 January 2004, it has been possible to fly to Ceuta from Málaga by helicopter.
• In addition to being known as "Ceuta Heliport", another name for JCU is "Helipuerto de Ceuta".
• The furthest airport from Ceuta Heliport (JCU) is Whangarei Airport (WRE), which is nearly antipodal to Ceuta Heliport (meaning Ceuta Heliport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Whangarei Airport), and is located 12,416 miles (19,982 kilometers) away in Whangarei, New Zealand.
• Because of Ceuta Heliport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Ceuta Heliport 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 former ICAO code of Ceuta is GECT.