Nonstop flight route between Sørkjosen, Norway and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sørkjosen Airport (SOJ), Sørkjosen, Norway and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,077 miles (or 6,562 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 Sørkjosen Airport and Ellsworth Air Force 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 Sørkjosen Airport and Ellsworth Air Force Base. 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 Sørkjosen Airport (SOJ):

• In addition to being known as "Sørkjosen Airport", another name for SOJ is "Sørkjosen lufthavn".
• Sørkjosen was launched as part of a national network of regional short take-off and landing airport which was proposed in the mid-1960s.
• The closest airport to Sørkjosen Airport (SOJ) is Tromsø Airport, Langnes (TOS), which is located 49 miles (80 kilometers) W of SOJ.
• The furthest airport from Sørkjosen Airport (SOJ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,541 miles (16,965 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In the mid-1990s, Nordreisa Municipal Council attempted to change the airport's name from Sørkjosen to Nordreisa.
• Sørkjosen Airport handled 16,993 passengers last year.
• Because of Sørkjosen Airport's relatively low elevation of 16 feet, planes can take off or land at Sørkjosen 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.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• 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".
• On 1 June 1992, as part of the first major reorganization since the creation of USAF, the Air Force inactivated Strategic Air Command and assigned Ellsworth's organizations ) to the newly activated Air Combat Command.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
• 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.
• Air Defense Command activated the 740th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Rapid City AFB on 1 February 1953 under the ADC 31st Air Division.
• 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.