Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Pärnu, Estonia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Pärnu Airport (EPU), Pärnu, Estonia would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,742 miles (or 7,632 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 Pärnu 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 Pärnu 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):

• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• 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.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• On 1 June 1971, SAC deactivated the 821st Strategic Aerospace Division and by October of that year, an upgraded LGM-30F Minuteman II also replaced the Minuteman I missiles.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Pärnu Airport (EPU):

• The airport is often visited by private aircraft from Scandinavia and other European countries.
• Aeroflot used to operate Tartu-Viljandi-Pärnu-Kingissepa services using Antonov An-2 biplanes.
• The furthest airport from Pärnu Airport (EPU) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,091 miles (17,848 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Pärnu Airport (EPU) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Pärnu Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at Pärnu 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.
• In addition to being known as "Pärnu Airport", another name for EPU is "Pärnu lennujaam".
• The closest airport to Pärnu Airport (EPU) is Tallinn Airport (TLL), which is located 70 miles (112 kilometers) N of EPU.
• In the summer of 2010 Estonian Air operated one return flight a week from Stockholm.