Nonstop flight route between Pärnu, Estonia and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Pärnu Airport (EPU), Pärnu, Estonia and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,742 miles (or 7,632 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 Pärnu 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 Pärnu 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 Pärnu Airport (EPU):

• Pärnu Airport (EPU) currently has only 1 runway.
• The airport is often visited by private aircraft from Scandinavia and other European countries.
• During the Soviet occupation, the airfield was operated by the Soviet Air Force.
• The closest airport to Pärnu Airport (EPU) is Tallinn Airport (TLL), which is located 70 miles (112 kilometers) N of EPU.
• The small airline Air Livonia flew from Pärnu to Kuressaare, Kihnu and Ruhnu until 2006.
• Because of Pärnu Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at Pärnu 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 Pärnu Airport (EPU) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,091 miles (17,848 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Pärnu Airport", another name for EPU is "Pärnu lennujaam".
• In the summer of 1992, the re-constituted Estonian defence ministry took over the military airport, which had drawn down its operations.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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.
• After the Army closed their facilities, the military housing at the Nike Integrated Fire Control sites was transferred to control of Ellsworth, and was used as Air Force military family housing until about 1990.
• 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 12th Air Division moved to Ellsworth on 15 July 1988.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.