Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Sitia, Crete, Greece:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Sitia Airport (JSH), Sitia, Crete, Greece would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,094 miles (or 9,808 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 Sitia 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 Sitia 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 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 installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• The Titan I's life span was short in western South Dakota.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• 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.

Facts about Sitia Airport (JSH):

• In addition to being known as "Sitia Airport", another name for JSH is "Δημοτικός Αερολιμένας Σητείας".
• Because of Sitia Airport's relatively low elevation of 376 feet, planes can take off or land at Sitia 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 furthest airport from Sitia Airport (JSH) is Rurutu Airport (RUR), which is located 11,540 miles (18,572 kilometers) away in Rurutu, French Polynesia.
• Sitia Airport (JSH) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Sitia Airport (JSH) is Kasos Island Public Airport (KSJ), which is located 48 miles (77 kilometers) ENE of JSH.
• The airport was officially opened 2 days later, on June 9, 1984.
• Besides rental cars, there are taxis available to any destination on Crete.
• On May 20, 1993, the airport's services moved to a newly built terminal building and control tower.