Nonstop flight route between Berlevåg, Norway and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Berlevåg Airport (BVG), Berlevåg, Norway and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,144 miles (or 6,669 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 Berlevåg 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 Berlevåg 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 Berlevåg Airport (BVG):

• Construction of the airport started in 1943 by the Luftwaffe who stationed a detachment of Jagdgeschwader 5 there.
• In addition to being known as "Berlevåg Airport", another name for BVG is "Berlevåg lufthavn".
• Berlevåg Airport handled 5,949 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Berlevåg Airport (BVG) is Båtsfjord Airport (BJF), which is located 24 miles (39 kilometers) SE of BVG.
• On 11 March 1982 Widerøe Flight 933 crashed into the Barents Sea between Berlevåg and Mehamn Airport, after having made two intermediate stops since leaving Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen.
• Berlevåg Airport is a regional airport serving Berlevåg Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway.
• The furthest airport from Berlevåg Airport (BVG) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,376 miles (16,698 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Norving started offering flights to the closed-down military airport in 1970 using their newly delivered Britten-Norman Islander.
• Because of Berlevåg Airport's relatively low elevation of 43 feet, planes can take off or land at Berlevåg 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.

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 installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• 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 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.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• The base experienced one of its worst peacetime tragedies in March 1953 when an RB-36 and its entire crew of 23 crashed in Newfoundland while returning from a routine exercise in Europe.
• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• 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".