Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Saba, Caribbean Netherlands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport (SAB), Saba, Caribbean Netherlands would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,944 miles (or 4,737 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 Juancho E. Yrausquin 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 Juancho E. Yrausquin 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):

• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• The 12th Air Division moved to Ellsworth on 15 July 1988.
• 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 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".
• The mission of the 28th Bomb Wing is to deliver decisive combat power for global response.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• 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 base experienced one of its worst peacetime tragedies in March 1953 when an RB-36 and its entire crew of 23 crashed in Newfoundland while returning from a routine exercise in Europe.

Facts about Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport (SAB):

• The airport has the shortest commercial runway in the world, only 400 meters long, flanked on one side by high hills, with cliffs that drop into the sea at both ends.
• Because of Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport's relatively low elevation of 60 feet, planes can take off or land at Juancho E. Yrausquin 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.
• Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport (SAB) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport (SAB) is F.D. Roosevelt Airport (EUX), which is located only 19 miles (30 kilometers) ESE of SAB.
• Average flights to Sint Maarten last within a quarter of an hour.
• The furthest airport from Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport (SAB) is Karratha Airport (KTA), which is nearly antipodal to Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport (meaning Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Karratha Airport), and is located 12,225 miles (19,674 kilometers) away in Karratha / Dampier, Western Australia, Australia.
• Jet aircraft are unable to land at the airport, because the runway is too short.