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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Parma Airport (PMF), Parma, Italy would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,057 miles (or 8,139 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 Parma 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 Parma 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):

• 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.
• The Titan I's life span was short in western South Dakota.
• The mission of the 28th Bomb Wing is to deliver decisive combat power for global response.
• 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.
• 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.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.

Facts about Parma Airport (PMF):

• In addition to being known as "Parma Airport", another name for PMF is "Aeroporto di Parma".
• The closest airport to Parma Airport (PMF) is Piacenza-San Damiano Air Base (QPZ), which is located 29 miles (46 kilometers) WNW of PMF.
• Parma Airport handled 177,807 passengers last year.
• Because of Parma Airport's relatively low elevation of 161 feet, planes can take off or land at Parma 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 Parma Airport (PMF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Parma Airport (meaning Parma Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,096 miles (19,466 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Parma Airport (PMF) currently has only 1 runway.