Nonstop flight route between Tegel / Berlin, Germany and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL), Tegel / Berlin, Germany and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,763 miles (or 7,666 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 Berlin Tegel 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 Berlin Tegel 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 Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL):

• Following the mid- to late 1960s' introduction by Pan American World Airways and British European Airways of jet aircraft with short-field capabilities that were not payload-restricted on Tempelhof's short runways, Air France experienced a traffic decline on those routes where it competed with Pan Am and BEA, mainly as a result of Tegel's greater distance and poorer accessibility from West Berlin's city centre.
• In addition to being known as "Berlin Tegel Airport", another name for TXL is "Flughafen Berlin-Tegel".
• West Berlin's special legal status during the Cold War era meant that all air traffic through the Allied air corridors linking the exclave with West Germany was restricted to airlines headquartered in the United States, the United Kingdom or France – three of the four victorious powers of World War II.
• 1976 was the first year since 1972 the steady decline in scheduled domestic air traffic from and to West Berlin was arrested and reversed.
• Because of Berlin Tegel Airport's relatively low elevation of 122 feet, planes can take off or land at Berlin Tegel 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 Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,685 miles (18,805 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The area of today's airport originally was part of Jungfernheide forest, which served as a hunting ground for the Prussian nobility.
• In addition to operating a limited number of commercial flights from Tegel prior to its move from Tempelhof on 1 September 1975, Pan Am used it as a diversion airfield.
• The closest airport to Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL) is Berlin Tempelhof Airport (THF), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) SE of TXL.
• Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL) has 2 runways.
• Berlin Tegel Airport handled 19,591,849 passengers last year.

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.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
• Rapid City AAF was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing, II Bomber Command.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.