Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and La Seu d'Urgell, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and La Seu d'Urgell airport (LEU), La Seu d'Urgell, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,860 miles (or 7,821 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 La Seu d'Urgell 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 La Seu d'Urgell 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):

• 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.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• Military organizations periodically upgrade manpower and machines from time to time to meet new national security requirements and Ellsworth Air Force Base's organizations were no exception.
• 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.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• 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.
• On 1 June 1971, SAC deactivated the 821st Strategic Aerospace Division and by October of that year, an upgraded LGM-30F Minuteman II also replaced the Minuteman I missiles.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".

Facts about La Seu d'Urgell airport (LEU):

• The closest airport to La Seu d'Urgell airport (LEU) is Lleida–Alguaire Airport (ILD), which is located 62 miles (99 kilometers) SW of LEU.
• The furthest airport from La Seu d'Urgell airport (LEU) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to La Seu d'Urgell airport (meaning La Seu d'Urgell airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,289 miles (19,777 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In 2009, a contract was awarded to Acsa Sorigué for the redevelopment work that will lead to the reopening of the airport.
• Because of La Seu d'Urgell airport's relatively low elevation of 3 feet, planes can take off or land at La Seu d'Urgell 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 "La Seu d'Urgell airport", other names for LEU include "Aeroport de la Seu d'Urgell" and "Aeroport Pirineus - la Seu d'Urgell".
• La Seu d'Urgell airport (LEU) currently has only 1 runway.