Nonstop flight route between Santander, Cantabria, Spain and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Santander Airport (SDR), Santander, Cantabria, Spain and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,611 miles (or 7,421 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 Santander Airport and Ellsworth Air Force Base, 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 Santander Airport and Ellsworth Air Force Base. 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 Santander Airport (SDR):

• The closest airport to Santander Airport (SDR) is Bilbao Airport (BIO), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) E of SDR.
• In addition to being known as "Santander Airport", other names for SDR include "Aeropuerto de Santander" and "Aeropuerto de Parayas".
• The furthest airport from Santander Airport (SDR) is Kaikoura Aerodrome (KBZ), which is nearly antipodal to Santander Airport (meaning Santander Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Kaikoura Aerodrome), and is located 12,289 miles (19,777 kilometers) away in Kaikoura, New Zealand.
• Santander Airport (SDR) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Santander Airport's relatively low elevation of 16 feet, planes can take off or land at Santander 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.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• The 44th Missile Wing, however, had ably accomplished its deterrence mission.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• 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.
• On 15 July 1945, the 225th AAFBU was inactivated and Rapid City AAB was placed on standby status as the Army Air Forces began to demobilize.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.