Nonstop flight route between Aachen, Germany and Rapid City, South Dakota, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from AAH to RCA:
Share this route:
Jump to:
- About this route
- AAH Airport Information
- RCA Airport Information
- Facts about AAH
- Facts about RCA
- Map of Nearest Airports to AAH
- List of Nearest Airports to AAH
- Map of Furthest Airports from AAH
- List of Furthest Airports from AAH
- Map of Nearest Airports to RCA
- List of Nearest Airports to RCA
- Map of Furthest Airports from RCA
- List of Furthest Airports from RCA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Merzbrück Airfield (AAH), Aachen, Germany and Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA), Rapid City, South Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,631 miles (or 7,452 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 Merzbrück Airfield 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 Merzbrück Airfield 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:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | AAH / EDKA |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Aachen, Germany |
GPS Coordinates: | 50°49'23"N by 6°11'11"E |
Area Served: | Aachen, Germany |
Operator/Owner: | Flugplatz Aachen-Merzbrück GmbH |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 623 feet (190 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from AAH |
More Information: | AAH Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | RCA / KRCA |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Rapid City, South Dakota, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 44°8'47"N by 103°4'28"W |
View all routes: | Routes from RCA |
More Information: | RCA Maps & Info |
Facts about Merzbrück Airfield (AAH):
- In addition to being known as "Merzbrück Airfield", another name for AAH is "Flugplatz Merzbrück".
- The airport was built about 1932 as a grass airfield, and throughout the 1930s was used by small light aircraft.
- The closest airport to Merzbrück Airfield (AAH) is NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen E–3A Component (GKE), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) NNW of AAH.
- The furthest airport from Merzbrück Airfield (AAH) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,937 miles (19,210 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- Merzbrück Airfield (AAH) currently has only 1 runway.
- Because of Merzbrück Airfield's relatively low elevation of 623 feet, planes can take off or land at Merzbrück Airfield 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.
- With the outbreak of World War II, Merzbrück was used by the Luftwaffe, with IV./LG 1 and I./St.G.
- After the war, the airport was used by the British Forces Germany and later by the Belgian Forces in Germany.
Facts about Ellsworth Air Force Base (RCA):
- 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.
- Military organizations periodically upgrade manpower and machines from time to time to meet new national security requirements and Ellsworth Air Force Base's organizations were no exception.
- In addition to being known as "Ellsworth Air Force Base", another name for RCA is "Ellsworth AFB".
- 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.
- Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base.
- 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 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.
- 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.