Nonstop flight route between Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States and Istres, France:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GRR to QIE:
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- About this route
- GRR Airport Information
- QIE Airport Information
- Facts about GRR
- Facts about QIE
- Map of Nearest Airports to GRR
- List of Nearest Airports to GRR
- Map of Furthest Airports from GRR
- List of Furthest Airports from GRR
- Map of Nearest Airports to QIE
- List of Nearest Airports to QIE
- Map of Furthest Airports from QIE
- List of Furthest Airports from QIE
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR), Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE), Istres, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,307 miles (or 6,931 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 Gerald R. Ford International Airport and Istres-Le Tubé Air 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 Gerald R. Ford International Airport and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | GRR / KGRR |
Airport Name: | Gerald R. Ford International Airport |
Location: | Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 42°52'50"N by 85°31'22"W |
Area Served: | Grand Rapids, Michigan |
Operator/Owner: | Kent County |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 794 feet (242 meters) |
# of Runways: | 3 |
View all routes: | Routes from GRR |
More Information: | GRR Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | QIE / LFMI |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Istres, France |
GPS Coordinates: | 43°31'27"N by 4°56'30"E |
Operator/Owner: | Government of France |
Airport Type: | Military |
Elevation: | 162 feet (49 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from QIE |
More Information: | QIE Maps & Info |
Facts about Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR):
- The closest airport to Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) is Park Township Airport (HLM), which is located 33 miles (53 kilometers) W of GRR.
- The furthest airport from Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,165 miles (17,969 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
- When new baggage screening regulations were introduced by the Transportation Security Administration in 2002, the airport was one of the first in the nation to conduct trials on the new screening machines.
- The airport is at the intersection of 44th Street and Patterson Avenue.
- Because of Gerald R. Ford International Airport's relatively low elevation of 794 feet, planes can take off or land at Gerald R. Ford International 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.
- Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) has 3 runways.
- In 1997 the new 8,500-foot runway 17/35 was added to allow the airport to continue operations during the $32 million reconstruction of runway 8R/26L, completed in 2001.
Facts about Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE):
- Built prior to World War II, Istres Air Base was first used by the Armée de l'air during the early part of the war, and after the 1940 Battle of France and the June Armistice with Nazi Germany, became part of the limited air force of the Vichy Government.
- The main USAAF use of Istres was by the 64th Troop Carrier Group, which operated C-47 Skytrain transports from the airfield from September to November 1944.
- In addition to being known as "Istres-Le Tubé Air Base", another name for QIE is "Base aérienne 125 Istres (BA 125)Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) Y-17".
- Because of Istres-Le Tubé Air Base's relatively low elevation of 162 feet, planes can take off or land at Istres-Le Tubé Air Base 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.
- Secondary users occasionally include the United States Air Force, during Allied operations engaging United States and France.
- The closest airport to Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) is Marseille Provence Airport (MRS), which is located only 15 miles (24 kilometers) ESE of QIE.
- The furthest airport from Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (meaning Istres-Le Tubé Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,364 miles (19,898 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (QIE) currently has only 1 runway.