Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Wroclaw, Poland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Copernicus Airport Wrocław (WRO), Wroclaw, Poland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,941 miles (or 7,952 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 Copernicus Airport Wrocław, 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 Copernicus Airport Wrocław. 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):

• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• On 1 June 1992, as part of the first major reorganization since the creation of USAF, the Air Force inactivated Strategic Air Command and assigned Ellsworth's organizations ) to the newly activated Air Combat Command.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Copernicus Airport Wrocław (WRO):

• The airport was built in 1938 for German military purposes before World War II.
• The airport operates modern domestic, international and cargo terminals.
• The furthest airport from Copernicus Airport Wrocław (WRO) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,637 miles (18,728 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Copernicus Airport Wrocław (WRO) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Copernicus Airport Wrocław's relatively low elevation of 404 feet, planes can take off or land at Copernicus Airport Wrocław 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.
• On December 6, 2005 the airport was renamed after the famous astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, who in Wrocław studied and received a scholarship.
• In addition to being known as "Copernicus Airport Wrocław", another name for WRO is "Port Lotniczy Wrocław im. Mikołaja Kopernika".
• The first international flights were inaugurated in January 1993, serving Frankfurt, Germany.
• The closest airport to Copernicus Airport Wrocław (WRO) is Zielona Góra-Babimost Airport (IEG), which is located 85 miles (137 kilometers) NNW of WRO.