Nonstop flight route between Santiago de Veraguas, Panama and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ruben Cantu Airport (SYP), Santiago de Veraguas, Panama and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,825 miles (or 4,546 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 Ruben Cantu 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 Ruben Cantu 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 Ruben Cantu Airport (SYP):

• The closest airport to Ruben Cantu Airport (SYP) is Río Hato / Scarlett Martinez Airport (RIH), which is located 59 miles (96 kilometers) ENE of SYP.
• The furthest airport from Ruben Cantu Airport (SYP) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is nearly antipodal to Ruben Cantu Airport (meaning Ruben Cantu Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport), and is located 12,115 miles (19,498 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• Because of Ruben Cantu Airport's relatively low elevation of 272 feet, planes can take off or land at Ruben Cantu 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.
• Ruben Cantu Airport (SYP) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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 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 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.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• Internationally, the destruction of the Berlin Wall in October 1989 symbolized the imminent demise of the Soviet Union over the next several months.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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 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.
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.