Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Portimão, Algarve, Portugal:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Portimão Airport (PRM), Portimão, Algarve, Portugal would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,693 miles (or 7,553 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 Portimão 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 Portimão 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 installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• After the Army closed their facilities, the military housing at the Nike Integrated Fire Control sites was transferred to control of Ellsworth, and was used as Air Force military family housing until about 1990.
• 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.
• 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 Titan I's life span was short in western South Dakota.
• 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.

Facts about Portimão Airport (PRM):

• Portimão Airport (PRM) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Portimão Airport (PRM) is Faro International Airport (FAO), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) ESE of PRM.
• Because of Portimão Airport's relatively low elevation of 5 feet, planes can take off or land at Portimão 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 Portimão Airport (PRM) is Dargaville Aerodrome (DGR), which is nearly antipodal to Portimão Airport (meaning Portimão Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Dargaville Aerodrome), and is located 12,276 miles (19,756 kilometers) away in Dargaville, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Portimão Airport", another name for PRM is "Aeródromo Municipal de Portimão".