Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Carrickfinn, Ireland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Donegal Airport (CFN), Carrickfinn, Ireland would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,975 miles (or 6,397 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base and Donegal Airport, 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base and Donegal Airport. 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• To provide air defense of the base, the United States Army established the Ellsworth AFB Defense Area in 1957 and constructed Nike-Ajax Surface-to-air missile sites for air defense.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• On 15 July 1945, the 225th AAFBU was inactivated and Rapid City AAB was placed on standby status as the Army Air Forces began to demobilize.
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• Air Defense Command activated the 740th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Rapid City AFB on 1 February 1953 under the ADC 31st Air Division.
• 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.
• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• 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.

Facts about Donegal Airport (CFN):

• CityJet operate a Saturday seasonal charter flight to Rotterdam between April and September every year using a Fokker 50.
• The furthest airport from Donegal Airport (CFN) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,853 miles (19,076 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Donegal Airport is located 2 NM south-west of Bunbeg, being located at Carrickfinn, a townland in The Rosses, a district in north-west County Donegal, Ireland.
• In addition to being known as "Donegal Airport", another name for CFN is "Aerfort Dhún na nGall".
• Donegal Airport (CFN) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Donegal Airport's relatively low elevation of 30 feet, planes can take off or land at Donegal 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.
• Due to the large gas field in the area, non-scheduled chartered Helicopter flights connect to the multiple offshore installations.
• Loganair is the only scheduled airline currently using the airport.
• The closest airport to Donegal Airport (CFN) is City of Derry Airport (LDY), which is located 47 miles (75 kilometers) E of CFN.
• In October 2011, Aer Arann ceased operations at Donegal due to the loss of the Dublin PSO contract.