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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof (ZWS), Stuttgart, Germany and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,825 miles (or 7,764 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 Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof 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 Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof 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 Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof (ZWS):

• In November 2009, preservationists of the International Council on Monuments and Sites nominated the building for inclusion in UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage list, an occasion that opponents of the Stuttgart 21 project picked to urge the city and Deutsche Bahn to stop the project which implies demolition of parts of the complex designed by Paul Bonatz.
• Because of Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof 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.
• In addition to its great architectural quality, the new building was well incorporated into the other structures in the city center.
• The closest airport to Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof (ZWS) is Stuttgart Airport (STR), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) SSE of ZWS.
• On November 27, 2011, a referendum on the project "Stuttgart 21" resulted in 58.8% voted in favor of the project, 41.2% voted against it.
• The furthest airport from Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof (ZWS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof (meaning Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,001 miles (19,313 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Until 1922, the central station was located on the Schlosstrasse, near the Schlossplatz.
• The connected freight station, which featured a marshaling hump and rail brakes, was closed, due to both the reduction in freight traffic, and in preparation for the Stuttgart 21 project.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• Ellsworth Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 10 miles northeast of Rapid City, South Dakota just north of Box Elder, South Dakota.
• 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.
• An Army Air-Defense Command Post was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions.
• Ellsworth's population of approximately 8,000 includes military members, family members and civilian employees.
• 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.
• Internationally, the destruction of the Berlin Wall in October 1989 symbolized the imminent demise of the Soviet Union over the next several months.
• When operations resumed in 1947 the base was a new United States Air Force asset.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".