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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Stuttgart Airport (STR), Stuttgart, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,830 miles (or 7,774 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 Stuttgart 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 Stuttgart 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 March 1944, heavy bomber operational training ended and the 225th Army Air Force Base Unit began training of replacement personnel for deployed heavy bombardment units in the overseas combat theaters.
• 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 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.
• Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Force.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".

Facts about Stuttgart Airport (STR):

• The airport was expanded after World War II.
• The furthest airport from Stuttgart Airport (STR) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Stuttgart Airport (meaning Stuttgart Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,004 miles (19,319 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Stuttgart Airport (STR) currently has only 1 runway.
• After the death of former mayor Manfred Rommel in November 2013 local politicians proposed to rename the airport after him.
• The closest airport to Stuttgart Airport (STR) is Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof (ZWS), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) NNW of STR.
• For the duration of the Cold War the runway and facilities were shared with the United States Army who operated helicopters, the Grumman OV-1 Mohawk and other fixed wing aircraft at Echterdingen Army Airfield on the southern portion of the facility.
• In addition to being known as "Stuttgart Airport", another name for STR is "Flughafen Stuttgart".