Nonstop flight route between Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Luxembourg-Findel, Luxembourg:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Luxembourg Airport (LUX), Luxembourg-Findel, Luxembourg would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,688 miles (or 7,544 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 Luxembourg 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 Luxembourg 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):

• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• 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.
• Ellsworth AFB is 10 miles east of Rapid City, S.D.
• 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.
• The 740th AC&W Squadron began operations in 1955 with AN/MPS-7 search radar, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept and warning station.
• 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 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".

Facts about Luxembourg Airport (LUX):

• United States Army combat engineers arrived at Sandweiler in mid September 1944 and performed some minor reconstruction to prepare the airfield for Ninth Air Force combat aircraft.
• The furthest airport from Luxembourg Airport (LUX) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Luxembourg Airport (meaning Luxembourg Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,016 miles (19,338 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Luxembourg Airport has constructed a high-security zone far away from most airport activities in order to attract the business of transporting valuable goods such as art and jewels.
• Neutral Luxembourg was invaded by Germany on 10 May 1940, and on 21 May, the Luftwaffe assigned Jagdgeschwader 53, a Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter unit to the airport.
• In addition to being known as "Luxembourg Airport", other names for LUX include "Fluchhafe Lëtzebuerg", "Aéroport de Luxembourg" and "Flughafen Luxemburg".
• Luxembourg Airport handled 2,197,331 passengers last year.
• Terminal B opened in 2004, the building is unique as it only has gates and no check-in counters or arrivals hall.
• The closest airport to Luxembourg Airport (LUX) is Bitburg Airport (BBJ), which is located 27 miles (44 kilometers) NE of LUX.
• Luxembourg Airport (LUX) currently has only 1 runway.