Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Rygge (near Moss), Norway:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Moss Airport, Rygge (RYG), Rygge (near Moss), Norway would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,364 miles (or 7,023 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 Moss Airport, Rygge, 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 Moss Airport, Rygge. 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.
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The 44th Missile Wing, however, had ably accomplished its deterrence mission.
• Military organizations periodically upgrade manpower and machines from time to time to meet new national security requirements and Ellsworth Air Force Base's organizations were no exception.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".

Facts about Moss Airport, Rygge (RYG):

• In June 2002, Norwegian Air Shuttle stated that they would start flights from Rygge, should the airport be built.
• Moss Airport, Rygge (RYG) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Moss Airport, Rygge (RYG) is Sandefjord Airport, Torp (TRF), which is located 23 miles (37 kilometers) SW of RYG.
• In October and November, Ryanair established itself at the airport, and started flights to Alicante, Barcelona, Brussels, Bremen, Madrid, Milano and London.
• Moss Airport, Rygge is located 67 kilometers from Oslo.
• In 2009, the airport company lost NOK 102 million.
• In addition to being known as "Moss Airport, Rygge", another name for RYG is "Moss lufthavn, Rygge".
• The furthest airport from Moss Airport, Rygge (RYG) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,319 miles (18,216 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Moss Airport, Rygge's relatively low elevation of 173 feet, planes can take off or land at Moss Airport, Rygge 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.
• In a report published by the ministry in March 2004, it was estimated that the airport would have 700,000 to 800,000 passengers per year, making it the eighth largest in the country, and could have 1.3 million passengers by 2030.
• Moss Airport, Rygge handled 1,667,705 passengers last year.
• The Civil Aviation Authority introduced a non-flight limitation on the airport from 23 to 07, of consideration to the airport's neighbors.