Nonstop flight route between Frankfurt, Germany and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Frankfurt Airport (FRA), Frankfurt, Germany and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,744 miles (or 7,635 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 Frankfurt 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 Frankfurt 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 Frankfurt Airport (FRA):

• Frankfurt Airport lies 12 km southwest of central Frankfurt, near the Autobahn intersection Frankfurter Kreuz, where two of the most heavily used motorways in Europe meet.
• Frankfurt Airport (FRA) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from Frankfurt Airport (FRA) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,946 miles (19,225 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Frankfurt Airport handled 5,752,725 passengers last year.
• In 1990, work on a new terminal began because it was anticipated that Terminal Mitte would reach its capacity limit sooner than expected.
• The center line separation from the existing north runway is about 1,400 meters.
• In 1951 restrictions for German air travellers were lifted and civil air traffic started to grow again.
• Because of Frankfurt Airport's relatively low elevation of 364 feet, planes can take off or land at Frankfurt 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 new terminal, called Terminal Mitte and divided into three concourses with 56 gates and an electric baggage handling system, was opened to the public on 14 March 1972.
• The closest airport to Frankfurt Airport (FRA) is Lucius D. Clay KaserneWiesbaden Army AirfieldWiesbaden Air BaseAdvanced Landing Ground Y-80Fliegerhorst Wiesbaden (WIE), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) W of FRA.
• On 10 October 2012, an 800-meter-long westward expansion of Terminal 1 called Pier A-Plus went into operation.
• In addition to being known as "Frankfurt Airport", another name for FRA is "Flughafen Frankfurt am Main".

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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 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.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• 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.
• On 2 January 1942, the U.S.
• The 44th Missile Wing, however, had ably accomplished its deterrence mission.