Nonstop flight route between Mannheim, Germany and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mannheim City Airport (MHG), Mannheim, Germany and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,392 miles (or 7,068 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 Mannheim City Airport 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 Mannheim City Airport 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:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Mannheim City Airport (MHG):

• The furthest airport from Mannheim City Airport (MHG) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,980 miles (19,280 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Mannheim City Airport", another name for MHG is "City-Airport Mannheim".
• Because of Mannheim City Airport's relatively low elevation of 309 feet, planes can take off or land at Mannheim City 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.
• Mannheim City Airport (MHG) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Mannheim City Airport (MHG) is Sembach KaserneSembach Air Base (SEX), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) W of MHG.
• During World War II the airport was severely damaged.
• The first commercial airport in Mannheim was founded on May 16, 1925 as Flughafen Mannheim-Heidelberg-Ludwigshafen in the northern district of Sandhofen.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• On 1 September 1958, the Strategic Air Command established the 4133d Strategic Wing at Grand Forks as part of its plan to disperse its B-52 heavy bombers over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike.
• On 26 May 1972, President Nixon and Soviet general secretary Leonid Brezhnev signed the ABM Treaty, which limited each nation to one site to protect strategic forces and one site to protect the "National Command Authority." With work about 85 percent complete at Grand Forks, the United States chose to finish construction at the North Dakota site.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• Opened 57 years ago in early 1957, the base's current host unit is the 319th Air Base Wing assigned to the Expeditionary Center of the Air Mobility Command.
• 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.
• During 1965, the wing’s three missile squadrons were activated and crew training and certification began at Vandenberg AFB in southern California.
• 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.
• SAGE operations were extremely expansive and GFADS was inactivated on 1 December 1963, when it was merged with the Minot Air Defense Sector at Minot AFB to the west.