Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Ikerasak, Greenland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Ikerasak Heliport (IKE), Ikerasak, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,516 miles (or 4,049 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 Ikerasak Heliport, 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 Ikerasak Heliport. 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):

• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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 October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• 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.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.

Facts about Ikerasak Heliport (IKE):

• The closest airport to Ikerasak Heliport (IKE) is Uummannaq Heliport (UMD), which is located 23 miles (36 kilometers) NW of IKE.
• The furthest airport from Ikerasak Heliport (IKE) is Hobart International Airport (HBA), which is located 10,417 miles (16,765 kilometers) away in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
• Because of Ikerasak Heliport's relatively low elevation of 66 feet, planes can take off or land at Ikerasak Heliport 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.