Nonstop flight route between Abbeville, France and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Aerodrome Abbeville (XAB), Abbeville, France and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,518 miles (or 7,272 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 Aerodrome Abbeville 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 Aerodrome Abbeville 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 Aerodrome Abbeville (XAB):

• Abbeville was liberated by Polish troops around 3 September 1944.
• The closest airport to Aerodrome Abbeville (XAB) is Le Touquet - Côte d'Opale Airport (LTQ), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) NNW of XAB.
• The furthest airport from Aerodrome Abbeville (XAB) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,992 miles (19,299 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Aerodrome Abbeville's relatively low elevation of 220 feet, planes can take off or land at Aerodrome Abbeville 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.
• In addition to being known as "Aerodrome Abbeville", other names for XAB include "Aérodrome d'Abbeville - Buigny-Saint-Maclou" and "Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) B-92".
• Today most of the airfield has been converted for other uses.
• Aerodrome Abbeville (XAB) has 3 runways.
• The airport resides at an elevation of 220 feet above mean sea level.
• No scheduled commercial air service at this time.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• 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".
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• 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 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.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• On 1 June 1971, SAC deactivated the 821st Strategic Aerospace Division and by October of that year, an upgraded LGM-30F Minuteman II also replaced the Minuteman I missiles.
• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.