Nonstop flight route between Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS), Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,517 miles (or 7,269 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 Amsterdam Airport Schiphol 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 Amsterdam Airport Schiphol 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 Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS):

• The Rijksmuseum operates an annex at the airport, offering a small overview of both classical and contemporary art.
• The closest airport to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) is Valkenburg Naval Air Base (LID), which is located only 18 miles (28 kilometers) WSW of AMS.
• Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) has 6 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Amsterdam Airport Schiphol", another name for AMS is "Luchthaven Schiphol".
• The furthest airport from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,847 miles (19,066 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of intense traffic and high landing fees, some low cost carriers decided to move their flights to smaller airports, such as Rotterdam The Hague Airport and Eindhoven Airport.
• Schiphol has large shopping areas as a source of revenue and as an additional attraction for passengers.
• Because of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol's relatively low elevation of -11 feet, planes can take off or land at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol 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):

• Military organizations periodically upgrade manpower and machines from time to time to meet new national security requirements and Ellsworth Air Force Base's organizations were no exception.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• 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.
• The base experienced one of its worst peacetime tragedies in March 1953 when an RB-36 and its entire crew of 23 crashed in Newfoundland while returning from a routine exercise in Europe.
• 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.
• 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 12th Air Division moved to Ellsworth on 15 July 1988.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.