Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Emden, Lower Saxony, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Emden Airport (EME), Emden, Lower Saxony, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,543 miles (or 7,312 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base and Emden Airport, 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base and Emden Airport. 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 Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• 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.
• 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 host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• The 44th Missile Wing, however, had ably accomplished its deterrence mission.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• The installation changed names a few more times during its early years.

Facts about Emden Airport (EME):

• Emden Airport (EME) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Emden Airport", another name for EME is "Flugplatz Emden".
• The furthest airport from Emden Airport (EME) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,754 miles (18,916 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Emden Airport handled 21,984 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Emden Airport (EME) is Borkum Airfield (BMK), which is located 26 miles (41 kilometers) NW of EME.
• Because of Emden Airport's relatively low elevation of 2 feet, planes can take off or land at Emden 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.