Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kerry Airport (KIR), Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,040 miles (or 6,502 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 Kerry 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 Kerry 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):

• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• 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.
• 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.
• In March 1944, heavy bomber operational training ended and the 225th Army Air Force Base Unit began training of replacement personnel for deployed heavy bombardment units in the overseas combat theaters.

Facts about Kerry Airport (KIR):

• The airport is a public limited company but not quoted on any stock exchange.
• In addition to being known as "Kerry Airport", another name for KIR is "Aerfort Chiarraí".
• Kerry Airport handled 272,799 passengers last year.
• An airport bus terminal opened in January 2006 which has hourly bus service to Cork, Limerick, Tralee and Killarney.
• The closest airport to Kerry Airport (KIR) is Bantry Aerodrome (BYT), which is located 35 miles (57 kilometers) S of KIR.
• Because of Kerry Airport's relatively low elevation of 112 feet, planes can take off or land at Kerry 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.
• Kerry Airport, often called Farranfore Airport, is an airport in Farranfore, Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland.
• Kerry Airport is located on the N23 approximately 60 miles from both Cork and Limerick.
• It was announced in February 2012, due to the codeshare agreement with Aer Lingus that the currently operated Dublin service with Aer Arann will be operated from 30 October 2012 under the brand Aer Lingus Regional.
• On 25 August 1969 the first aircraft to land at Kerry Airport was piloted by Captain Milo Carr of the Department of Transport & Power.
• The furthest airport from Kerry Airport (KIR) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is nearly antipodal to Kerry Airport (meaning Kerry Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ryan's Creek Aerodrome), and is located 12,057 miles (19,403 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Iarnród Éireann's Farranfore railway station is located 0.8 miles to the south with services to Killarney, Tralee, Cork, Limerick Junction and Dublin Heuston.
• Kerry Airport (KIR) currently has only 1 runway.