Nonstop flight route between Ronaldsway, Isle of Man, United Kingdom and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Isle of Man Airport (IOM), Ronaldsway, Isle of Man, United Kingdom and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,136 miles (or 6,655 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 Isle of Man 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 Isle of Man 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 Isle of Man Airport (IOM):

• Because of Isle of Man Airport's relatively low elevation of 52 feet, planes can take off or land at Isle of Man 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.
• Now a naval air station, RNAS Ronaldsway, the airport was taken out of commission in 1943 for almost twelve months of extensive development.
• A project by Ellis Brown Architects began in November 1998 to extend the airport and improve the facilities available to passengers.
• The furthest airport from Isle of Man Airport (IOM) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,847 miles (19,066 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Isle of Man Airport (IOM) is Barrow/Walney Island Airport (BWF), which is located 55 miles (89 kilometers) E of IOM.
• Isle of Man Airport (IOM) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Isle of Man Airport", another name for IOM is "Purt Aer Vannin".
• Ronaldsway was first used as an airfield in 1928 with passenger services to the UK starting in 1933, operated by Blackpool and West Coast Air Services.
• Isle of Man Airport handled 739,683 passengers last year.

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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
• 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.
• Military organizations periodically upgrade manpower and machines from time to time to meet new national security requirements and Ellsworth Air Force Base's organizations were no exception.
• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.