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):

• The station building was constructed using reinforced concrete, which was then covered with roughly hewn shell limestone ashlar, sourced from the area around Crailsheim.
• As part of the Stuttgart 21 project, the two wings were demolished.
• 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 1910, the Royal Württemberg State Railways underwrote an architectural contest, which saw 70 participants.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof (ZWS) is Stuttgart Airport (STR), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) SSE of ZWS.

Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):

• The Titan I's life span was short in western South Dakota.
• Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and the 740th was discontinued.
• 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 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 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".