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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Rostock–Laage Airport (RLG), Rostock, Germany and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,667 miles (or 7,511 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 Rostock–Laage Airport and Ellsworth Air Force Base, 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 Rostock–Laage Airport and Ellsworth Air Force Base. 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 Rostock–Laage Airport (RLG):

• The airport is expected to post losses of € 2.8 million for 2013 while the passenger numbers decreased by 12 percent in the same year.
• Rostock–Laage Airport is the airport of Rostock, the largest city in the German state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern which is named after Laage, a town in the Rostock district.
• The closest airport to Rostock–Laage Airport (RLG) is Stralsund Barth Airport (BBH), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) NNE of RLG.
• In addition to being known as "Rostock–Laage Airport", another name for RLG is "Flughafen Rostock–Laage".
• Rostock–Laage Airport (RLG) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Rostock–Laage Airport's relatively low elevation of 138 feet, planes can take off or land at Rostock–Laage 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.
• The furthest airport from Rostock–Laage Airport (RLG) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,635 miles (18,724 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Construction of the airport began in 1979 as a National People's Army facility.
• The nearest major international airports are Berlin Tegel Airport 190 kilometres to the south and Hamburg Airport 200 kilometres to the west.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• 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 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".
• On 1 June 1992, as part of the first major reorganization since the creation of USAF, the Air Force inactivated Strategic Air Command and assigned Ellsworth's organizations ) to the newly activated Air Combat Command.
• Shortly after additional runway improvements, in July 1949, the 28 BMW began conversion from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker.
• 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.