Nonstop flight route between Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from AWK to RDR:
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- About this route
- AWK Airport Information
- RDR Airport Information
- Facts about AWK
- Facts about RDR
- Map of Nearest Airports to AWK
- List of Nearest Airports to AWK
- Map of Furthest Airports from AWK
- List of Furthest Airports from AWK
- Map of Nearest Airports to RDR
- List of Nearest Airports to RDR
- Map of Furthest Airports from RDR
- List of Furthest Airports from RDR
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wake Island Airfield (AWK), Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,504 miles (or 8,857 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 Wake Island Airfield and Grand Forks 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 Wake Island Airfield and Grand Forks 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: | AWK / PWAK |
Airport Name: | Wake Island Airfield |
Location: | Wake Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands |
GPS Coordinates: | 19°16'56"N by 166°38'12"E |
Operator/Owner: | U.S. Air Force |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 23 feet (7 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from AWK |
More Information: | AWK Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | RDR / KRDR |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 47°57'39"N by 97°24'3"W |
View all routes: | Routes from RDR |
More Information: | RDR Maps & Info |
Facts about Wake Island Airfield (AWK):
- Between 5 and 29 May 1935, Pan American's air base construction vessel, North Haven, landed supplies and equipment on Wilkes Island for eventual rehandling to Peale Island which, because of its more suitable soil and geology, had been selected as site for the PAA seaplane base.
- The closest airport to Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is Quoin Hill Airfield (UIQ), which is located 169 miles (272 kilometers) SE of AWK.
- Because of Wake Island Airfield's relatively low elevation of 23 feet, planes can take off or land at Wake Island 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.
- Wake Island Airfield (AWK) currently has only 1 runway.
- From 1935 until 1940, when two typhoons swept Wake with resultant extensive damage to the now elaborately developed Pan American facilities, development and use of the base were steady but uneventful.
- On 31 August 2006, the super typhoon Ioke struck Wake Island.
- British Overseas Airways Corporation also used Wake Island as a refueling stop.
- The first intention to build an air base surfaced in 1935, when Pan American World Airways selected Wake Island as an intermediate support base for their routes to the Far East, especially the Philippines.
- The furthest airport from Wake Island Airfield (AWK) is RAF Ascension (ASI), which is located 11,652 miles (18,752 kilometers) away in Georgetown, Ascension Island, Saint Helena.
Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):
- The closest airport to Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR) is Grand Forks International Airport (GFK), which is located only 10 miles (17 kilometers) E of RDR.
- The furthest airport from Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,504 miles (16,904 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
- In 1973, the 319th Bomb Wing acquired the AGM-69 Short Range Attack Missile, replacing the older AGM-28 Hound Dog air-to-ground missile aboard its B-52H aircraft.
- On 3 November 1967, the Department of Defense revealed that GFAFB was one of 10 initial locations to host a Sentinel Anti-Ballistic Missile site.
- In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
- Following the departure of the last B-1B aircraft in 1994, the base transferred to the new Air Mobility Command and the 319th Bomb Wing was redesignated as the 319th Air Refueling Wing.
- Grand Forks Air Force Base was established on 1 December 1955, with construction beginning in the fall of that year.