Nonstop flight route between Rock Springs, Wyoming, United States and Pituffik, Greenland:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from RKS to THU:
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- About this route
- RKS Airport Information
- THU Airport Information
- Facts about RKS
- Facts about THU
- Map of Nearest Airports to RKS
- List of Nearest Airports to RKS
- Map of Furthest Airports from RKS
- List of Furthest Airports from RKS
- Map of Nearest Airports to THU
- List of Nearest Airports to THU
- Map of Furthest Airports from THU
- List of Furthest Airports from THU
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Rock Springs–Sweetwater County Airport (RKS), Rock Springs, Wyoming, United States and Thule Air Base (THU), Pituffik, Greenland would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,687 miles (or 4,325 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 Rock Springs–Sweetwater County Airport and Thule Air Base, 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 Rock Springs–Sweetwater County Airport and Thule Air Base. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | RKS / KRKS |
Airport Name: | Rock Springs–Sweetwater County Airport |
Location: | Rock Springs, Wyoming, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 41°35'39"N by 109°3'55"W |
Area Served: | Rock Springs, Wyoming |
Operator/Owner: | Rock Springs & Sweetwater County |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 6765 feet (2,062 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from RKS |
More Information: | RKS Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | THU / BGTL |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Pituffik, Greenland |
GPS Coordinates: | 76°31'51"N by 68°42'11"W |
View all routes: | Routes from THU |
More Information: | THU Maps & Info |
Facts about Rock Springs–Sweetwater County Airport (RKS):
- Rock Springs–Sweetwater County Airport (RKS) has 2 runways.
- The closest airport to Rock Springs–Sweetwater County Airport (RKS) is Kemmerer Municipal Airport (EMM), which is located 79 miles (126 kilometers) WNW of RKS.
- The furthest airport from Rock Springs–Sweetwater County Airport (RKS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,864 miles (17,484 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- The airport covers 1,242 acres at an elevation of 6,765 feet.
- Because of Rock Springs–Sweetwater County Airport's high elevation of 6,765 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at RKS. Combined with a high temperature, this could make RKS a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
Facts about Thule Air Base (THU):
- The furthest airport from Thule Air Base (THU) is Hobart International Airport (HBA), which is located 9,883 miles (15,905 kilometers) away in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
- Thule is the location where the fastest recorded sea level surface wind speed in the world was measured when a peak speed of 333 kilometres per hour was recorded on 8 March 1972 prior to the instrument's destruction.
- The closest airport to Thule Air Base (THU) is Savissivik Heliport (SVR), which is located 69 miles (111 kilometers) ESE of THU.
- Thule Air Base is also home to the 821st Air Base Group and is responsible for air base support within the Thule Defense Area for the multinational population of "Team Thule." The base hosts the 12th Space Warning Squadron which operates a Ballistic Missile Early Warning System designed to detect and track ICBMs launched against North America.
- In 1957 construction began on 4 Nike Missile sites around the base, and they and their radar systems were operational by the end of 1958.
- In 1949, Denmark joined NATO and abandoned its attempt to remove the United States bases.
- In addition to being known as "Thule Air Base", another name for THU is "Thule AB".