Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Cork, Ireland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Cork Airport (ORK), Cork, Ireland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,089 miles (or 6,581 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 Cork 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 Cork 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):

• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• 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".
• In 1986, the base and the 28 BMW made extensive preparations to phase out the aging B-52 fleet and become the second home for the advanced B-1B Lancer.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Cork Airport (ORK):

• The furthest airport from Cork Airport (ORK) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is nearly antipodal to Cork Airport (meaning Cork Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ryan's Creek Aerodrome), and is located 12,063 miles (19,413 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Because of Cork Airport's relatively low elevation of 502 feet, planes can take off or land at Cork 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 Irish Aviation Authority completed a new control tower 1 km from the old terminal to the west of the main runway.
• In 1975 Aer Rianta, the then state airports authority, undertook a passenger terminal study aimed at improving the terminal facilities.
• Cork Airport handled 2,340,141 passengers last year.
• Cork Airport (ORK) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Cork Airport (ORK) is Bantry Aerodrome (BYT), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) WSW of ORK.
• In 2005, Ryanair opened its 15th European base and second Irish base at Cork.
• On dates yet to be confirmed, the Cork and Shannon Airport Authorities will have the relevant airport assets vested in them and assume full responsibility for the management, development and operation of Cork and Shannon airports respectively.
• In addition to being known as "Cork Airport", another name for ORK is "Aerfort Chorcaí".