Nonstop flight route between Castle Donington, Leicestershire, United Kingdom and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between East Midlands Airport (EMA), Castle Donington, Leicestershire, United Kingdom and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,296 miles (or 6,914 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 East Midlands 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 East Midlands 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 East Midlands Airport (EMA):

• East Midlands Airport has established itself as a hub for low fare airlines such as, Jet2.com and Ryanair and tour operarors like Thomson Airways which serve a range of domestic and European short-haul destinations.
• The airport was originally a Royal Air Force station, RAF Castle Donington, which was decommissioned in 1946.
• The furthest airport from East Midlands Airport (EMA) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,827 miles (19,034 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to East Midlands Airport (EMA) is RAF Cottesmore (OKH), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) ESE of EMA.
• With growing passenger and cargo traffic, further expansion was proposed for the airport in 1992.
• East Midlands Airport handled 4,334,117 passengers last year.
• Because of East Midlands Airport's relatively low elevation of 306 feet, planes can take off or land at East Midlands 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.
• Ryanair has also expanded its East Midlands base with a series of new routes and frequency increases on existing routes.
• East Midlands Airport (EMA) currently has only 1 runway.
• Expansion was swift, with a further runway extension to 2,283 m and terminal upgrade in the late 1970s.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• The mission of the 28th Bomb Wing is to deliver decisive combat power for global response.
• 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 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.