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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Monaco Heliport (MCM), Fontvieille, Monaco would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,013 miles (or 8,067 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 Monaco 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 Monaco 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):

• Ellsworth Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 10 miles northeast of Rapid City, South Dakota just north of Box Elder, South Dakota.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• 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.
• In 1986, the base and the 28 BMW made extensive preparations to phase out the aging B-52 fleet and become the second home for the advanced B-1B Lancer.
• 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.
• 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 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.

Facts about Monaco Heliport (MCM):

• The heliport is located directly on the Mediterranean coastline in the vicinity of the Stade Louis II, and the Chapiteau.
• In addition to being known as "Monaco Heliport", another name for MCM is "Héliport de Monaco".
• The closest airport to Monaco Heliport (MCM) is Nice Côte d'Azur Airport (NCE), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) WSW of MCM.
• The heliport has been expanded to 8 pads since its opening in 1987, with pads A and B jutted out over the sea.
• The furthest airport from Monaco Heliport (MCM) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Monaco Heliport (meaning Monaco Heliport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,243 miles (19,704 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Shuttle buses provide connections to and from the heliport with major hotels and many other locations within Monaco.
• Because of Monaco Heliport's relatively low elevation of 20 feet, planes can take off or land at Monaco 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.