Nonstop flight route between Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hatfield Aerodrome (HTF), Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,377 miles (or 7,044 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 Hatfield Aerodrome 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 Hatfield Aerodrome 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 Hatfield Aerodrome (HTF):

• The Hatfield Aerodrome History Trail was officially opened on 24 November 2010.
• In 1934 significant works were undertaken at the site and a large factory and imposing Art Deco administration buildings were constructed together with a flying school building which also housed flying control.
• The 146 first flew in 1981 and production of some components, final assembly and flight testing of the first two series of the aircraft was based at Hatfield during the early and mid 1980s.
• The closest airport to Hatfield Aerodrome (HTF) is London Luton Airport (LTN), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) NNW of HTF.
• De Havilland had been developing and manufacturing propellers and piston engines in addition to airframes.
• Because of Hatfield Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 254 feet, planes can take off or land at Hatfield Aerodrome 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.
• Hatfield Aerodrome (HTF) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Hatfield Aerodrome (HTF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,860 miles (19,086 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• 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.