Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Mehamn, Norway:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Mehamn Airport (MEH), Mehamn, Norway would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,118 miles (or 6,628 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 Mehamn 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 Mehamn 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 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.
• After the Army closed their facilities, the military housing at the Nike Integrated Fire Control sites was transferred to control of Ellsworth, and was used as Air Force military family housing until about 1990.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Mehamn Airport (MEH):

• The furthest airport from Mehamn Airport (MEH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,384 miles (16,711 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Mehamn Airport", another name for MEH is "Mehamn lufthavn".
• Mehamn Airport (MEH) currently has only 1 runway.
• On 11 March 1982, Widerøe Flight 933 crashed into the Barents Sea between Berlevåg Airport and Mehamn Airport, killing all fifteen people on board the Twin Otter.
• Because of Mehamn Airport's relatively low elevation of 39 feet, planes can take off or land at Mehamn 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.
• Mehamn Airport handled 16,810 passengers last year.
• Widerøe operated Twin Otters on the route until 1995, when the Dash 8 was introduced.
• The closest airport to Mehamn Airport (MEH) is Berlevåg Airport (BVG), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) ESE of MEH.