Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Amiens, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome (QAM), Amiens, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,549 miles (or 7,321 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 Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome, 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 Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome. 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• In March 1944, heavy bomber operational training ended and the 225th Army Air Force Base Unit began training of replacement personnel for deployed heavy bombardment units in the overseas combat theaters.
• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• 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".
• 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 Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome (QAM):

• In addition to being known as "Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome", other names for QAM include "Aérodrome d'Amiens - Glisy" and "(former Advanced Landing Ground B-48)".
• The closest airport to Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome (QAM) is Aerodrome Abbeville (XAB), which is located 31 miles (50 kilometers) NW of QAM.
• Because of Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 208 feet, planes can take off or land at Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome 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 airfield was then used by the Americans as a troop carrier and transport airfield flying C-47 Skytrain aircraft.
• The furthest airport from Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome (QAM) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome (meaning Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,014 miles (19,335 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome (QAM) has 2 runways.