Nonstop flight route between Campbeltown, Scotland, United Kingdom and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Campbeltown Airport (CAL), Campbeltown, Scotland, United Kingdom and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,048 miles (or 6,514 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 Campbeltown 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 Campbeltown 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 Campbeltown Airport (CAL):

• The closest airport to Campbeltown Airport (CAL) is Islay Airport (ILY), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) NW of CAL.
• Campbeltown Airport handled 9,181 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Campbeltown Airport", other names for CAL include "Port-adhair Cheann Loch Chille Chiarain", "RAF Machrihanish" and "MoD Machrihanish".
• Campbeltown Airport (CAL) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Campbeltown Airport (CAL) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,789 miles (18,973 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Campbeltown Airport is located at Machrihanish, 3 nautical miles west of Campbeltown, near the tip of the Kintyre peninsula in Argyll and Bute on the west coast of Scotland.
• Because of Campbeltown Airport's relatively low elevation of 42 feet, planes can take off or land at Campbeltown 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.
• Permanent full-time military operations ceased in 1997.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• Ellsworth Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 10 miles northeast of Rapid City, South Dakota just north of Box Elder, South Dakota.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• 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 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 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.
• On 15 July 1945, the 225th AAFBU was inactivated and Rapid City AAB was placed on standby status as the Army Air Forces began to demobilize.