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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Siena-Ampugnano Airport (SAY), Siena, Italy would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,169 miles (or 8,319 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 Siena-Ampugnano 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 Siena-Ampugnano 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):

• 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.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• Internationally, the destruction of the Berlin Wall in October 1989 symbolized the imminent demise of the Soviet Union over the next several months.
• 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.
• 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.
• Ellsworth Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 10 miles northeast of Rapid City, South Dakota just north of Box Elder, South Dakota.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".

Facts about Siena-Ampugnano Airport (SAY):

• Because of Siena-Ampugnano Airport's relatively low elevation of 634 feet, planes can take off or land at Siena-Ampugnano 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 closest airport to Siena-Ampugnano Airport (SAY) is Grosseto Airport (GRS), which is located 36 miles (57 kilometers) SSW of SAY.
• The site has recently been proposed for a new international airport capable of handling 4 million passengers a year by 2020.
• During World War II, the facility was known as Malignano Airfield.
• Siena-Ampugnano Airport handled 3,745 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Siena-Ampugnano Airport", other names for SAY include "Aeroporto di Siena-Ampugnano" and "Siena-Ampugnano".
• Siena-Ampugnano Airport (SAY) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Siena-Ampugnano Airport (SAY) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Siena-Ampugnano Airport (meaning Siena-Ampugnano Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,049 miles (19,391 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.