Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Frankfurt–Hahn Airport (HHN), Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,707 miles (or 7,575 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 Frankfurt–Hahn 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 Frankfurt–Hahn 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):

• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• 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.
• 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.
• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• In March 1994, Ellsworth welcomed the 34th Bomb Squadron, a geographically separated unit that was awaiting airfield upgrades before it could return to its parent organization, the 366th Wing, at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.

Facts about Frankfurt–Hahn Airport (HHN):

• Frankfurt–Hahn Airport (HHN) currently has only 1 runway.
• Despite its name, the airport is virtually equidistant between Frankfurt and Luxembourg – about 120 km to each city by road.
• In January 2014 it has been announced that the airport has accumulated debts of € 125 million while passenger and cargo traffic are decreasing.
• Ryanair announced the cancellation and reduction of several routes for summer 2014 as three of nine based aircraft are removed.
• In addition to being known as "Frankfurt–Hahn Airport", another name for HHN is "Flughafen Frankfurt-Hahn".
• The airport has no railway station.
• The closest airport to Frankfurt–Hahn Airport (HHN) is Spangdahlem Air Base (SPM), which is located 25 miles (41 kilometers) W of HHN.
• Hahn is fairly well reachable by road, the nearest Autobahn connections are approximately 40 kilometres to the west or east.
• The furthest airport from Frankfurt–Hahn Airport (HHN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,978 miles (19,276 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The airport consists of one passenger and one cargo terminal.