Nonstop flight route between Lübeck (near Hamburg), Schleswig-Holstein, Germany and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lübeck Airport (LBC), Lübeck (near Hamburg), Schleswig-Holstein, Germany and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,628 miles (or 7,447 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 Lübeck 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 Lübeck 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 Lübeck Airport (LBC):

• Because of Lübeck Airport's relatively low elevation of 53 feet, planes can take off or land at Lübeck 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.
• In June 2014 Ryanair announced to leave Lübeck Airport as of October 2014 due to the airport's uncertain future.
• Regional trains run every hour between Kiel and Lüneburg, stopping at the airport's own station Lübeck-Flughafen as well as Lübeck main station.
• A new ILS CAT II system went operational in February 2014 allowing planes to operate at the airport in more difficult weather conditions.
• Lübeck Airport (LBC) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Lübeck Airport (LBC) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,674 miles (18,787 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Lübeck Airport", another name for LBC is "Flughafen Lübeck".
• Lübeck Airport handled 537,835 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Lübeck Airport (LBC) is Hamburg Airport (HAM), which is located 32 miles (52 kilometers) WSW of LBC.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• 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.
• 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 Titan I's life span was short in western South Dakota.