Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Sitka, Alaska, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from RDR to SIT:
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- About this route
- RDR Airport Information
- SIT Airport Information
- Facts about RDR
- Facts about SIT
- 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 SIT
- List of Nearest Airports to SIT
- Map of Furthest Airports from SIT
- List of Furthest Airports from SIT
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport (SIT), Sitka, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,689 miles (or 2,718 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 relatively short distance between Grand Forks Air Force Base and Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
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: | SIT / PASI |
Airport Name: | Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport |
Location: | Sitka, Alaska, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 57°2'49"N by 135°21'42"W |
Area Served: | Sitka, Alaska |
Operator/Owner: | State of Alaska DOT&PF |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 26 feet (8 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from SIT |
More Information: | SIT Maps & Info |
Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):
- In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
- 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 1 November 1964, 321st Strategic Missile Wing was organized as the Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile wing at GFAFB, the first in SAC.
- Grand Forks Air Force Base was established on 1 December 1955, with construction beginning in the fall of that year.
- Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.
- 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.
- 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 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.
- 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.
Facts about Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport (SIT):
- The furthest airport from Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport (SIT) is Port Alfred Airport (AFD), which is located 10,611 miles (17,077 kilometers) away in Port Alfred, South Africa.
- As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 68,197 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 62,498 enplanements in 2009, and 64,536 in 2010.
- Safety hazards include boulders from the causeway washing onto the runway during storms, high winds because of its exposed location, and large flocks of birds that live very close to the airport.
- Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport (SIT) currently has only 1 runway.
- Because of Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport's relatively low elevation of 26 feet, planes can take off or land at Sitka Rocky Gutierrez 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.
- The closest airport to Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport (SIT) is Chatham Seaplane Base (CYM), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) NNE of SIT.