Nonstop flight route between Ivalo, Finland and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ivalo Airport (IVL), Ivalo, Finland and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,243 miles (or 6,828 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 Ivalo 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 Ivalo 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 Ivalo Airport (IVL):

• Because of Ivalo Airport's relatively low elevation of 482 feet, planes can take off or land at Ivalo 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 Ivalo Airport (IVL) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,522 miles (16,933 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Ivalo Airport (IVL) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Ivalo Airport", another name for IVL is "Ivalon lentoasema".
• The closest airport to Ivalo Airport (IVL) is Kittilä Airport (KTT), which is located 91 miles (147 kilometers) SW of IVL.
• Ivalo Airport handled 111,940 passengers last year.

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.
• 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.
• 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 1986, the base and the 28 BMW made extensive preparations to phase out the aging B-52 fleet and become the second home for the advanced B-1B Lancer.
• 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.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.