Nonstop flight route between Lakselv, Norway and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lakselv Airport, Banak (LKL), Lakselv, Norway and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,127 miles (or 6,642 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 Lakselv Airport, Banak 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 Lakselv Airport, Banak 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 Lakselv Airport, Banak (LKL):

• Widerøe is the main airline operating at Banak, with daily flights to Alta and Tromsø using Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft.
• To allow increased military use of the air station, the airport received an upgrade in 1967 and 1968 costing NOK 17.8 million.
• The closest airport to Lakselv Airport, Banak (LKL) is Alta Airport (ALF), which is located 38 miles (62 kilometers) W of LKL.
• In addition to being known as "Lakselv Airport, Banak", another name for LKL is "Lakselv lufthavn, Banak".
• The airfield was constructed with triangular runways in 1938.
• The furthest airport from Lakselv Airport, Banak (LKL) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,476 miles (16,859 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Interest in Banak rose with the Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948 and fears of Soviet intervention in Norway.
• Because of Lakselv Airport, Banak's relatively low elevation of 25 feet, planes can take off or land at Lakselv Airport, Banak 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.
• By 1959 the United States was concerned that the militarization of the Kola Peninsula would become the prime point of a Soviet attack on North America.
• Lakselv Airport, Banak handled 71,763 passengers last year.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• On 1 June 1992, as part of the first major reorganization since the creation of USAF, the Air Force inactivated Strategic Air Command and assigned Ellsworth's organizations ) to the newly activated Air Combat Command.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• In March 1944, heavy bomber operational training ended and the 225th Army Air Force Base Unit began training of replacement personnel for deployed heavy bombardment units in the overseas combat theaters.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.