Nonstop flight route between Turku, Finland and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Turku Airport (TKU), Turku, Finland and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,581 miles (or 7,372 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 Turku 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 Turku 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 Turku Airport (TKU):

• Because of Turku Airport's relatively low elevation of 161 feet, planes can take off or land at Turku 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 vicinity of Airport there are two highways E63 that goes from Turku to Tampere and Jyväskylä, and E18 which goes from Naantali via the Turku Ring Road and from Turku to Helsinki and Saint Petersburg, Russia.
• In addition to being known as "Turku Airport", another name for TKU is "Turun lentoasemaÅbo flygplats".
• Turku Airport was Finland's first civilian airport when it was built in Artukainen in 1935, but already in the 1920s there was a water airport on Ruissalo Island.
• The closest airport to Turku Airport (TKU) is Pori Airport (POR), which is located 67 miles (108 kilometers) NNW of TKU.
• The furthest airport from Turku Airport (TKU) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,047 miles (17,778 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Turku airport is located in Lentokenttä district in the Maaria-Paattinen ward of Turku.
• Turku Airport (TKU) currently has only 1 runway.
• Turku Airport handled 454,948 passengers last year.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• 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 deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• 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.
• On 1 June 1971, SAC deactivated the 821st Strategic Aerospace Division and by October of that year, an upgraded LGM-30F Minuteman II also replaced the Minuteman I missiles.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.