Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Jaffna, Sri Lanka:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from RDR to JAF:
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- About this route
- RDR Airport Information
- JAF Airport Information
- Facts about RDR
- Facts about JAF
- Map of Nearest Airports to RDR
- List of Nearest Airports to RDR
- Map of Furthest Airports from RDR
- List of Furthest Airports from RDR
- Map of Nearest Airports to JAF
- List of Nearest Airports to JAF
- Map of Furthest Airports from JAF
- List of Furthest Airports from JAF
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Jaffna Airport (JAF), Jaffna, Sri Lanka would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,443 miles (or 13,588 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 Grand Forks Air Force Base and Jaffna 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 Grand Forks Air Force Base and Jaffna Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure 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 |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | JAF / VCCJ |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Jaffna, Sri Lanka |
GPS Coordinates: | 9°47'32"N by 80°4'12"E |
Area Served: | Jaffna |
Operator/Owner: | Government of Sri Lanka |
Airport Type: | Military/Public |
Elevation: | 33 feet (10 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from JAF |
More Information: | JAF Maps & Info |
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 3 September 1974, the SAFSCOM Site Activation Team was relieved by the U.S.
- On 1 February 1993, ACC dropped the 319th Bomb Wing's primary nuclear mission and gave the wing the primary mission of B-1B conventional bombardment operations.
- In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
- 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.
- 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.
- Grand Forks Air Force Base was established on 1 December 1955, with construction beginning in the fall of that year.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Facts about Jaffna Airport (JAF):
- Jaffna Airport is an air force base and domestic airport in Palaly in northern Sri Lanka.
- The closest airport to Jaffna Airport (JAF) is Anuradhapura Airport (ACJ), which is located 106 miles (170 kilometers) SSE of JAF.
- In addition to being known as "Jaffna Airport", another name for JAF is "யாழ்ப்பாணம் விமான நிலையம்යාපනය ගුවන්තොටුපළ".
- The furthest airport from Jaffna Airport (JAF) is Seymour Airport (GPS), which is located 11,511 miles (18,525 kilometers) away in Baltra Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
- During World War II the British Royal Air Force built an airfield in Palaly near Kankesanthurai in northern Ceylon.
- Because of Jaffna Airport's relatively low elevation of 33 feet, planes can take off or land at Jaffna 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.
- Jaffna Airport (JAF) currently has only 1 runway.