Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kajaani, Finland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kajaani Airport (KAJ), Kajaani, Finland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,484 miles (or 7,216 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 Kajaani 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 Kajaani 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):

• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• 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 base experienced one of its worst peacetime tragedies in March 1953 when an RB-36 and its entire crew of 23 crashed in Newfoundland while returning from a routine exercise in Europe.
• 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.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• The airfield was again temporarily shut down from September 1946 – March 1947 and underwent a major construction program to upgrade the temporary wartime facilities to that of a permanent base.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".

Facts about Kajaani Airport (KAJ):

• Because of Kajaani Airport's relatively low elevation of 483 feet, planes can take off or land at Kajaani 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.
• Kajaani Airport handled 74,558 passengers last year.
• In addition to being known as "Kajaani Airport", another name for KAJ is "Kajaanin lentoasema".
• Kajaani Airport (KAJ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Kajaani Airport (KAJ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,739 miles (17,283 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Kajaani Airport (KAJ) is Oulu Airport (OUL), which is located 82 miles (132 kilometers) NW of KAJ.