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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Lappeenranta Airport (LPP), Lappeenranta, Finland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,673 miles (or 7,521 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 Lappeenranta 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 Lappeenranta 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.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• 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.
• 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.
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• Internationally, the destruction of the Berlin Wall in October 1989 symbolized the imminent demise of the Soviet Union over the next several months.

Facts about Lappeenranta Airport (LPP):

• Lappeenranta Airport is an international airport in Lappeenranta, Finland.
• Because of Lappeenranta Airport's relatively low elevation of 349 feet, planes can take off or land at Lappeenranta 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.
• The closest airport to Lappeenranta Airport (LPP) is Utti Airport (UTI), which is located 42 miles (67 kilometers) WSW of LPP.
• In addition to being known as "Lappeenranta Airport", another name for LPP is "Lappeenrannan lentoasema".
• Lappeenranta Airport handled 98,300 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Lappeenranta Airport (LPP) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,877 miles (17,505 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Lappeenranta Airport (LPP) currently has only 1 runway.
• The reason for the passenger decline from 2006 to 2009 was mainly the opening of the new railway shortcut Lahti–Kerava in September 2006.