Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kuressaare, Saaremaa, Estonia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Kuressaare Airport (URE), Kuressaare, Saaremaa, Estonia would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,708 miles (or 7,577 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 Kuressaare 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 Kuressaare 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 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• The base experienced one of its worst peacetime tragedies in March 1953 when an RB-36 and its entire crew of 23 crashed in Newfoundland while returning from a routine exercise in Europe.

Facts about Kuressaare Airport (URE):

• The closest airport to Kuressaare Airport (URE) is Kärdla Airport (KDL), which is located 54 miles (87 kilometers) NNE of URE.
• 19,702 passengers travelled via Kuressaare Airport in 2010.
• The furthest airport from Kuressaare Airport (URE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,153 miles (17,949 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Kuressaare Airport (URE) has 2 runways.
• Because of Kuressaare Airport's relatively low elevation of 14 feet, planes can take off or land at Kuressaare 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.
• In addition to being known as "Kuressaare Airport", another name for URE is "Kuressaare lennujaam".