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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Paderborn Lippstadt Airport (PAD), Paderborn, Germany and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,670 miles (or 7,515 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 Paderborn Lippstadt 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 Paderborn Lippstadt 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 Paderborn Lippstadt Airport (PAD):

• Because of Paderborn Lippstadt Airport's relatively low elevation of 699 feet, planes can take off or land at Paderborn Lippstadt 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.
• Paderborn Lippstadt Airport (PAD) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Paderborn Lippstadt Airport (PAD) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,849 miles (19,068 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Paderborn Lippstadt Airport (PAD) is RAF Gütersloh (GUT), which is located 25 miles (41 kilometers) NNW of PAD.
• It came into being in 1971 as the Flughafen Paderborn/Lippstadt GmbH, with 1.03 million passing through the airport in 2010.
• A conference center with several conference rooms can be found at the airport and a hotel was opened there in October 2006.
• In addition to being known as "Paderborn Lippstadt Airport", another name for PAD is "Flughafen Paderborn/Lippstadt".

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• 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.
• 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 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.
• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• 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.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• Ellsworth Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 10 miles northeast of Rapid City, South Dakota just north of Box Elder, South Dakota.