Nonstop flight route between Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Vitoria-Gasteiz Airport (VIT), Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,677 miles (or 7,528 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 Vitoria-Gasteiz 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 Vitoria-Gasteiz 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 Vitoria-Gasteiz Airport (VIT):

• Vitoria-Gasteiz Airport (VIT) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Vitoria-Gasteiz Airport (VIT) is Bilbao Airport (BIO), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) NNW of VIT.
• The furthest airport from Vitoria-Gasteiz Airport (VIT) is Hood Aerodrome (MRO), which is nearly antipodal to Vitoria-Gasteiz Airport (meaning Vitoria-Gasteiz Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hood Aerodrome), and is located 12,280 miles (19,763 kilometers) away in Masterton, New Zealand.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• In March 1944, heavy bomber operational training ended and the 225th Army Air Force Base Unit began training of replacement personnel for deployed heavy bombardment units in the overseas combat theaters.
• 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.
• Internationally, the destruction of the Berlin Wall in October 1989 symbolized the imminent demise of the Soviet Union over the next several months.
• 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".
• 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.
• 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.