Nonstop flight route between Tampere / Pirkkala, Finland and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Tampere–Pirkkala Airport (TMP), Tampere / Pirkkala, Finland and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,561 miles (or 7,340 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 Tampere–Pirkkala 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 Tampere–Pirkkala 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 Tampere–Pirkkala Airport (TMP):

• Tampere–Pirkkala Airport handled 466,671 passengers last year.
• Because of Tampere–Pirkkala Airport's relatively low elevation of 390 feet, planes can take off or land at Tampere–Pirkkala 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.
• The closest airport to Tampere–Pirkkala Airport (TMP) is Halli Airport (KEV), which is located 50 miles (80 kilometers) NE of TMP.
• Terminal 1 is connected to the city by a Paunu city bus service, while Terminal 2 has a direct Ryanair-affiliated link to the railway station.
• The furthest airport from Tampere–Pirkkala Airport (TMP) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,971 miles (17,656 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Tampere–Pirkkala Airport", another name for TMP is "Tampere-Pirkkalan lentoasema".
• There is a connection to Helsinki with one change of bus at Tampere coach station using the city bus service.
• Tampere–Pirkkala Airport (TMP) currently has only 1 runway.
• Tampere–Pirkkala Airport is located in Pirkkala, 7 NM south-west of Tampere city centre.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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 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.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• The airfield was again temporarily shut down from September 1946 – March 1947 and underwent a major construction program to upgrade the temporary wartime facilities to that of a permanent base.
• In October 1960, Ellsworth entered the "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron, initially assigned to the 28 BMW.
• 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.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.