Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Makemo, French Polynesia:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from RDR to MKP:
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- About this route
- RDR Airport Information
- MKP Airport Information
- Facts about RDR
- Facts about MKP
- 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 MKP
- List of Nearest Airports to MKP
- Map of Furthest Airports from MKP
- List of Furthest Airports from MKP
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Makemo Airport (MKP), Makemo, French Polynesia would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,293 miles (or 8,518 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 Makemo 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 Makemo 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: | MKP / NTGM |
Airport Name: | Makemo Airport |
Location: | Makemo, French Polynesia |
GPS Coordinates: | 16°35'16"S by 143°39'16"W |
Elevation: | 0 feet (0 meters) |
View all routes: | Routes from MKP |
More Information: | MKP Maps & Info |
Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- During the Cold War, GFAFB was a major installation of the Strategic Air Command, with B-52 bombers, KC-135 tankers, and Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles.
- The 319th transitioned from B-52H to re-engined B-52G aircraft in 1983, and added the AGM-86 Air Launched Cruise Missile in 1984.
- 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.
- The 4133d SW was redesignated as the 319th Bombardment Wing on 1 February 1963 in a name-only redesigation and was assigned to SAC's Second Air Force, 810th Strategic Aerospace Division.
- In addition to the interceptor squadrons, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center was established at Grand Forks in 1958.
Facts about Makemo Airport (MKP):
- The furthest airport from Makemo Airport (MKP) is Kassala Airport (KSL), which is nearly antipodal to Makemo Airport (meaning Makemo Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Kassala Airport), and is located 12,354 miles (19,882 kilometers) away in Kassala, Sudan.
- The closest airport to Makemo Airport (MKP) is Raroia Airport (RRR), which is located 87 miles (139 kilometers) ENE of MKP.
- Because of Makemo Airport's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Makemo 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.