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):

• On 2 January 1942, the U.S.
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• 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.
• On 15 July 1945, the 225th AAFBU was inactivated and Rapid City AAB was placed on standby status as the Army Air Forces began to demobilize.
• 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.
• 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 Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 10 miles northeast of Rapid City, South Dakota just north of Box Elder, South Dakota.
• The Titan I's life span was short in western South Dakota.
• The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.

Facts about Kuressaare Airport (URE):

• In addition to being known as "Kuressaare Airport", another name for URE is "Kuressaare lennujaam".
• 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.
• The airport is owned by AS Tallinna Lennujaam.
• 19,702 passengers travelled via Kuressaare Airport in 2010.
• The closest airport to Kuressaare Airport (URE) is Kärdla Airport (KDL), which is located 54 miles (87 kilometers) NNE of URE.
• 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.