Nonstop flight route between Bourg-en-Bresse, France and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Bourg - Ceyzériat Airport (XBK), Bourg-en-Bresse, France and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,819 miles (or 7,755 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 Bourg - Ceyzériat 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 Bourg - Ceyzériat 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 Bourg - Ceyzériat Airport (XBK):

• In addition to being known as "Bourg - Ceyzériat Airport", another name for XBK is "Aéroport de Bourg - Ceyzériat".
• The airport is open 24 hour and offers Pilot Controlled Lighting for Night VFR flights.
• Bourg - Ceyzériat Airport (XBK) has 2 runways.
• Because of Bourg - Ceyzériat Airport's relatively low elevation of 857 feet, planes can take off or land at Bourg - Ceyzériat 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 Bourg - Ceyzériat Airport (XBK) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Bourg - Ceyzériat Airport (meaning Bourg - Ceyzériat Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,251 miles (19,715 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Bourg - Ceyzériat Airport (XBK) is Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) SSW of XBK.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• 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 October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.