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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE), Venice, Italy would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,091 miles (or 8,194 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 Venice Marco Polo 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 Venice Marco Polo 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 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.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• The mission of the 28th Bomb Wing is to deliver decisive combat power for global response.
• 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.
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
• 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 host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• 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.

Facts about Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE):

• The airport is connected to the nearby railway station of Venice Mestre and to the bus terminal of Piazzale Roma in Venice by scheduled bus services.
• In addition to being known as "Venice Marco Polo Airport", other names for VCE include "Aeroporto di Venezia Marco Polo" and "Aeroporto di Venezia-Tessera".
• Venice Marco Polo Airport handled 8,403,790 passengers last year.
• Because of Venice Marco Polo Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Venice Marco Polo 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 Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE) is Treviso-Sant'Angelo Airport (TSF), which is located only 13 miles (20 kilometers) NW of VCE.
• A modern terminal was opened in 2002, but it is already at full capacity.
• The furthest airport from Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,989 miles (19,294 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE) has 2 runways.