Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Pituffik, Greenland:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from RAP to THU:
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- About this route
- RAP Airport Information
- THU Airport Information
- Facts about RAP
- Facts about THU
- Map of Nearest Airports to RAP
- List of Nearest Airports to RAP
- Map of Furthest Airports from RAP
- List of Furthest Airports from RAP
- Map of Nearest Airports to THU
- List of Nearest Airports to THU
- Map of Furthest Airports from THU
- List of Furthest Airports from THU
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,451 miles (or 3,945 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 relatively short distance between Rapid City Regional Airport and Thule Air Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | RAP / KRAP |
| Airport Name: | Rapid City Regional Airport |
| Location: | Rapid City, South Dakota, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 44°2'43"N by 103°3'25"W |
| Area Served: | Rapid City, South Dakota |
| Operator/Owner: | City of Rapid City |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 3204 feet (977 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from RAP |
| More Information: | RAP Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | THU / BGTL |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Pituffik, Greenland |
| GPS Coordinates: | 76°31'51"N by 68°42'11"W |
| View all routes: | Routes from THU |
| More Information: | THU Maps & Info |
Facts about Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP):
- The furthest airport from Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,585 miles (17,035 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- The closest airport to Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP) is Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) N of RAP.
- Rapid City Regional Airport is a city-owned public airport nine miles southeast of Rapid City, in Pennington County, South Dakota.
- Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP) has 2 runways.
Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):
- In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".
- After the German occupation of Denmark on 9 April 1940, Henrik Kauffmann Danish Ambassador to the United States, made an agreement "In the name of the king" with the United States authorizing the United States to defend the Danish colonies on Greenland from German aggression - this agreement faced Kaufmann with a charge of high treason.
- Originally established as a Strategic Air Command installation, Thule would periodically serve as a dispersal base for B-36 Peacemaker and B-47 Stratojet aircraft during the 1950s, as well as providing an ideal site to test the operability and maintainability of these weapon systems in extreme cold weather.
- Thule became an Air Force Space Command base in 1982.
- The furthest airport from Thule Air Base (THU) is Hobart International Airport (HBA), which is located 9,883 miles (15,905 kilometers) away in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
- The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
- Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation Blue Jay, but the project was made public in September 1952.
- Thule Air Base is home to the 21st Space Wing's global network of sensors providing missile warning, space surveillance and space control to North American Aerospace Defense Command and Air Force Space Command.
