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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States and Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport (XFW), Hamburg, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,615 miles (or 7,427 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 Hamburg Finkenwerder 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 Hamburg Finkenwerder 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 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".
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
• 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 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.
• 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.

Facts about Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport (XFW):

• Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport (XFW) currently has only 1 runway.
• Beginning in April 2006, the runway was extended from 2,684 m to 3,183 m at the southern end, in order to accommodate the planned freight version of the Airbus 380.
• In addition to being known as "Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport", another name for XFW is "Flugplatz Hamburg-Finkenwerder".
• There are no public flights to and from the airport.
• The furthest airport from Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport (XFW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,707 miles (18,840 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport (XFW) is Hamburg Airport (HAM), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) NE of XFW.
• Because of Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport's relatively low elevation of 23 feet, planes can take off or land at Hamburg Finkenwerder 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.