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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Munich Airport (MUC), Munich, Bavaria, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,929 miles (or 7,932 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 Munich 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 Munich 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.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• In 1986, the base and the 28 BMW made extensive preparations to phase out the aging B-52 fleet and become the second home for the advanced B-1B Lancer.
• 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 installation changed names a few more times during its early years.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• On 15 July 1945, the 225th AAFBU was inactivated and Rapid City AAB was placed on standby status as the Army Air Forces began to demobilize.
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• 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.
• An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956.

Facts about Munich Airport (MUC):

• Terminal 1 is the older terminal and commenced operation when the airport was opened on 17 May 1992.
• While according to ICAO Regulations the new runway would have to be named 08L/26R, it is currently assigned the working title 09/27 in all plans.
• In addition to being known as "Munich Airport", another name for MUC is "Flughafen München".
• The furthest airport from Munich Airport (MUC) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,933 miles (19,204 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Munich Airport (MUC) is Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base (FEL), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) WSW of MUC.
• Munich Airport, is the international airport of Munich, the capital of the state of Bavaria in Germany.
• Construction for the satellite building has started in 2012 and will be completed by 2015.
• Munich Airport (MUC) has 2 runways.
• The airport commenced operation on 17 May 1992, when operations moved from the former site at Munich-Riem Airport, which was closed shortly before midnight on the day before.
• Munich Airport handled 38,672,644 passengers last year.