Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Düne, Helgoland, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Heligoland Airport (HGL), Düne, Helgoland, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,527 miles (or 7,285 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 Heligoland 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 Heligoland 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):

• 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.
• 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 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 2 January 1942, the U.S.
• After the Army closed their facilities, the military housing at the Nike Integrated Fire Control sites was transferred to control of Ellsworth, and was used as Air Force military family housing until about 1990.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.
• The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force.
• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• Internationally, the destruction of the Berlin Wall in October 1989 symbolized the imminent demise of the Soviet Union over the next several months.

Facts about Heligoland Airport (HGL):

• From 2005 to 2006, the main runway was extended from 400 m to 480 m for compliance with EU regulations on commercial air traffic.
• Heligoland Airport is a small airport on the German island of Düne, the smaller of the two isles of the Heligoland archipelago in the North Sea, about 70 kilometres from the mainland.
• In addition to being known as "Heligoland Airport", another name for HGL is "Flughafen Helgoland-Düne".
• Heligoland Airport (HGL) has 3 runways.
• Because of Heligoland Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Heligoland 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 closest airport to Heligoland Airport (HGL) is Wangerooge Airport (AGE), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) S of HGL.
• The furthest airport from Heligoland Airport (HGL) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,693 miles (18,819 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.