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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport (OLB), Olbia, Italy would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,228 miles (or 8,414 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 Olbia Costa Smeralda 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 Olbia Costa Smeralda 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):

• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• 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.
• On 1 June 1992, as part of the first major reorganization since the creation of USAF, the Air Force inactivated Strategic Air Command and assigned Ellsworth's organizations ) to the newly activated Air Combat Command.
• 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.
• 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.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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 Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport (OLB):

• The furthest airport from Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport (OLB) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport (meaning Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,071 miles (19,426 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport (OLB) is Figari-Sud Corse Airport (Figari South Corsica Airport) (FSC), which is located 48 miles (77 kilometers) NNW of OLB.
• Because of Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport's relatively low elevation of 37 feet, planes can take off or land at Olbia Costa Smeralda 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.
• Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport (OLB) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport", another name for OLB is "Aeroporto di Olbia-Costa Smeralda".
• Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport handled 1,887,640 passengers last year.