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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Verona Airport (VRN), Verona, Italy would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,048 miles (or 8,125 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 Verona 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 Verona 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):

• 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 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.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• 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.
• Internationally, the destruction of the Berlin Wall in October 1989 symbolized the imminent demise of the Soviet Union over the next several months.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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 mission of the 28th Bomb Wing is to deliver decisive combat power for global response.

Facts about Verona Airport (VRN):

• In response to the constant passenger growth, the Catullo undertook a significant programme to expand its services and facilities for the increasing number of airport users.
• Verona Villafranca was a military airport during the First World War and opened to civil traffic in the early 1910s with some charter flights to the North of Europe and daily connections to Rome.
• Verona Airport (VRN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Verona Airport (VRN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Verona Airport (meaning Verona Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,059 miles (19,408 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Verona Airport", another name for VRN is "Aeroporto di Verona-Villafranca".
• In 1999 Valerio Catullo Airport reached the second position in the special classification of charter traffic after Milano Malpensa and before Roma Fiumicino.
• Because of Verona Airport's relatively low elevation of 240 feet, planes can take off or land at Verona 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 Verona Airport (VRN) is Brescia Airport Gabriele D'Annunzio (VBS), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) W of VRN.
• Verona Airport handled 3,198,788 passengers last year.