Nonstop flight route between El Vigía, Venezuela and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso Airport (VIG), El Vigía, Venezuela and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,093 miles (or 4,978 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 Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso 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 Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso 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 Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso Airport (VIG):

• Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso Airport (VIG) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso Airport's relatively low elevation of 249 feet, planes can take off or land at Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso 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 furthest airport from Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso Airport (VIG) is Tunggul Wulung Airport (CXP), which is nearly antipodal to Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso Airport (meaning Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Tunggul Wulung Airport), and is located 12,352 miles (19,879 kilometers) away in Cilacap, Java Island, Indonesia.
• The closest airport to Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonso Airport (VIG) is Miguel Urdaneta Fernández Airport (STB), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) NW of VIG.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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.
• 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.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• On 2 January 1942, the U.S.
• 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.
• 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 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.