Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Rurutu, French Polynesia:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GFA to RUR:
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- About this route
- GFA Airport Information
- RUR Airport Information
- Facts about GFA
- Facts about RUR
- 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 RUR
- List of Nearest Airports to RUR
- Map of Furthest Airports from RUR
- List of Furthest Airports from RUR
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Rurutu Airport (RUR), Rurutu, French Polynesia would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,439 miles (or 8,753 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 Rurutu Airport, 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 Rurutu Airport. 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: |
|
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: | RUR / NTAR |
Airport Name: | Rurutu Airport |
Location: | Rurutu, French Polynesia |
GPS Coordinates: | 22°25'54"S by 151°21'57"W |
Area Served: | Rurutu |
Elevation: | 10 feet (3 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from RUR |
More Information: | RUR Maps & Info |
Facts about Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA):
- 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.
- After World War II ended Great Falls AAB assumed a support mission for military personnel assigned to Alaskan military installations.
- Upon completion of the B-17 training program, in October 1943, Great Falls Army Air Base was transferred to the Air Transport Command and units from Gore Field were transferred to the base.
- The base's runway was closed on 31 December 1996 for aircraft operations.
- 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.
- In 1957, under the control of the 801st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, the Malmstrom AFB radar station became operational with AN/FPS-20 search and AN/FPS-6 height-finder radars.
- 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.
- In 1959 a SAGE data center was established at Malmstrom.
- In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
- Later, the 517th Air Transport Wing was redesginated the 1701st Air Transport Wing on 1 June 1948 when Air Transport Command was redesignated the Military Air Transport Service.
Facts about Rurutu Airport (RUR):
- Rurutu Airport (RUR) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Rurutu Airport (RUR) is Sharq Al-Owainat Airport (GSQ), which is nearly antipodal to Rurutu Airport (meaning Rurutu Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Sharq Al-Owainat Airport), and is located 12,425 miles (19,996 kilometers) away in Sharq Al-Owainat, Egypt.
- The closest airport to Rurutu Airport (RUR) is Fa'a'ā International Airport (PPT), which is located 356 miles (572 kilometers) NNE of RUR.
- Because of Rurutu Airport's relatively low elevation of 10 feet, planes can take off or land at Rurutu Airport 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.