Nonstop flight route between Ramstein, Germany and Houston, Texas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ramstein Air Base (RMS), Ramstein, Germany and West Houston Airport (IWS), Houston, Texas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,225 miles (or 8,409 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 Ramstein Air Base and West Houston 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 Ramstein Air Base and West Houston 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 Ramstein Air Base (RMS):

• In addition to being known as "Ramstein Air Base", another name for RMS is "Ramstein AB".
• With the creation of NATO in response to Cold War tensions in Europe in 1949, USAFE wanted its vulnerable fighter units in what was then West Germany moved west of the Rhine River to provide greater air defense warning time.
• The furthest airport from Ramstein Air Base (RMS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Ramstein Air Base (meaning Ramstein Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,003 miles (19,316 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The east gate of Ramstein Air Base is about 10 miles from Kaiserslautern.
• The closest airport to Ramstein Air Base (RMS) is Sembach KaserneSembach Air Base (SEX), which is located only 13 miles (21 kilometers) ENE of RMS.
• Ramstein AB is part of the Kaiserslautern Military Community , where more than 54,000 American service members and more than 5,400 US civilian employees live and work.
• One legacy of the two separate air bases is that the north side of Ramstein retained a separate APO from the south side.
• From its inception, Ramstein was designed as a NATO command base.

Facts about West Houston Airport (IWS):

• West Houston Airport (IWS) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to West Houston Airport (IWS) is Andrau Airpark (AAP), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) SE of IWS.
• West Houston Airport owned and operated by Gary Gandy covers an area of 200 acres at an elevation of 111 feet above mean sea level.
• West Houston Airport is a privately owned, public use use airport in Harris County, Texas, United States.
• The furthest airport from West Houston Airport (IWS) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 10,979 miles (17,668 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• On January 3, 2012, a pilot flying a 1985 Cessna 172P with a 180 HP engine from West Houston Airport to Lone Star Executive Airport reported losing power to her aircraft.
• Because of West Houston Airport's relatively low elevation of 111 feet, planes can take off or land at West Houston 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.