Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Jerez de la Frontera, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Jerez Airport (XRY), Jerez de la Frontera, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,818 miles (or 7,754 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 Jerez 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 Jerez 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 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• In 1986, the base and the 28 BMW made extensive preparations to phase out the aging B-52 fleet and become the second home for the advanced B-1B Lancer.
• The 740th AC&W Squadron began operations in 1955 with AN/MPS-7 search radar, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept and warning station.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Jerez Airport (XRY):

• The furthest airport from Jerez Airport (XRY) is Auckland Airport (AKL), which is nearly antipodal to Jerez Airport (meaning Jerez Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Auckland Airport), and is located 12,386 miles (19,934 kilometers) away in Mangere, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Jerez Airport (XRY) is Seville Airport (SVQ), which is located 47 miles (76 kilometers) N of XRY.
• Jerez Airport (XRY) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Jerez Airport", another name for XRY is "Aeropuerto de Jerez".
• There are regular buses to and from the airport to Jerez, El Puerto de Santa Maria and Cádiz.
• Because of Jerez Airport's relatively low elevation of 93 feet, planes can take off or land at Jerez 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.
• Ryanair introduced regular flights between Jerez Airport and London which helped increase passenger numbers at the airport to 1.1 million in 2004.