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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Vaasa Airport (VAA), Vaasa, Finland and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,437 miles (or 7,140 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 Vaasa 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 Vaasa 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 Vaasa Airport (VAA):

• Vaasa Airport (VAA) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Vaasa Airport", another name for VAA is "Vaasan lentoasemaVasa flygplats".
• Because of Vaasa Airport's relatively low elevation of 19 feet, planes can take off or land at Vaasa 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.
• Vaasa Airport handled 288,142 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Vaasa Airport (VAA) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,923 miles (17,579 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Vaasa Airport (VAA) is Kauhava Airport (KAU), which is located 41 miles (65 kilometers) E of VAA.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• In March 1944, heavy bomber operational training ended and the 225th Army Air Force Base Unit began training of replacement personnel for deployed heavy bombardment units in the overseas combat theaters.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• After the Army closed their facilities, the military housing at the Nike Integrated Fire Control sites was transferred to control of Ellsworth, and was used as Air Force military family housing until about 1990.
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• 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.
• 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.