Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Falkland Islands:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GFA to MPN:
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- About this route
- GFA Airport Information
- MPN Airport Information
- Facts about GFA
- Facts about MPN
- Map of Nearest Airports to GFA
- List of Nearest Airports to GFA
- Map of Furthest Airports from GFA
- List of Furthest Airports from GFA
- Map of Nearest Airports to MPN
- List of Nearest Airports to MPN
- Map of Furthest Airports from MPN
- List of Furthest Airports from MPN
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN), Falkland Islands would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,536 miles (or 12,129 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 Malmstrom Air Force Base and RAF Mount Pleasant, 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 Malmstrom Air Force Base and RAF Mount Pleasant. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | GFA / KGFA |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Great Falls, Montana, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 47°30'16"N by 111°11'13"W |
View all routes: | Routes from GFA |
More Information: | GFA Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | MPN / EGYP |
Airport Name: | RAF Mount Pleasant |
Location: | Falkland Islands |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°49'22"S by 58°26'49"W |
Operator/Owner: | Ministry of Defence |
View all routes: | Routes from MPN |
More Information: | MPN Maps & Info |
Facts about Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA):
- On 21 August 1954 the 407th SFW Vice Commander, Colonel Einar Axel Malmstrom, died when his T-33 Shooting Star trainer crashed approximately one mile west of the Great Falls Municipal Airport.
- At Great Falls, P-39 Airacobras, C-47 Skytrains, B-25 Mitchells, and A-20 Havocs aircraft.
- The furthest airport from Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,495 miles (16,891 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- Originally named Great Falls Army Air Base, later Great Falls Air Force Base, the facility was renamed Malmstrom Air Force Base on 1 October 1955 in honor of Colonel Einar Axel Malmstrom.
- The closest airport to Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA) is Great Falls International Airport (GTF), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) W of GFA.
- Malmstrom AFB is one of three US Air Force Bases that maintains and operates the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile.
- In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
- Great Falls was reassigned to the Central Air Defense Force at Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base in 1953.
Facts about RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN):
- The furthest airport from RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Mohe Gulian Airport (OHE), which is nearly antipodal to RAF Mount Pleasant (meaning RAF Mount Pleasant is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Mohe Gulian Airport), and is located 12,353 miles (19,879 kilometers) away in Mohe, Heilongjiang, China.
- The British government felt that Stanley airfield was not the best option for a large, permanent station and decided to construct a new RAF station and make it the centrepiece of considerably strengthened air defences for the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
- The closest airport to RAF Mount Pleasant (MPN) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of MPN.
- A flight of Westland Sea King helicopters for support and search and rescue has been located at Mount Pleasant since November 2007.
- On 10 November 2011, it was announced that Prince William would be serving as a Sea King pilot on the station for six weeks during February and March 2012.