Nonstop flight route between Valledupar, Colombia and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from VUP to RDR:
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- About this route
- VUP Airport Information
- RDR Airport Information
- Facts about VUP
- Facts about RDR
- Map of Nearest Airports to VUP
- List of Nearest Airports to VUP
- Map of Furthest Airports from VUP
- List of Furthest Airports from VUP
- Map of Nearest Airports to RDR
- List of Nearest Airports to RDR
- Map of Furthest Airports from RDR
- List of Furthest Airports from RDR
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Alfonso López Pumarejo Airport (VUP), Valledupar, Colombia and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,947 miles (or 4,743 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 Alfonso López Pumarejo 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 Alfonso López Pumarejo 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:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | VUP / SKVP |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Valledupar, Colombia |
GPS Coordinates: | 10°26'6"N by 73°14'57"W |
Area Served: | Valledupar, Colombia |
Operator/Owner: | Aerocivil Colombia |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 456 feet (139 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from VUP |
More Information: | VUP Maps & Info |
Arrival 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 |
Facts about Alfonso López Pumarejo Airport (VUP):
- In addition to being known as "Alfonso López Pumarejo Airport", another name for VUP is "Aeropuerto Alfonso López Pumarejo".
- Because of Alfonso López Pumarejo Airport's relatively low elevation of 456 feet, planes can take off or land at Alfonso López Pumarejo 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 furthest airport from Alfonso López Pumarejo Airport (VUP) is Christmas Island Airport (XCH), which is nearly antipodal to Alfonso López Pumarejo Airport (meaning Alfonso López Pumarejo Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Christmas Island Airport), and is located 12,365 miles (19,899 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Australia.
- Alfonso López Pumarejo Airport (VUP) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Alfonso López Pumarejo Airport (VUP) is La Mina Airport Jorge Isaacs Airport (MCJ), which is located 75 miles (121 kilometers) NE of VUP.
Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):
- 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.
- In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
- 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.
- 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 AFB is the home of the Air Mobility Command's 319th Air Base Wing.
- In addition to the interceptor squadrons, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center was established at Grand Forks in 1958.
- 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.
- With the restructuring of the Air Force and the disestablishment of SAC in 1992, the wing transferred to Air Combat Command, then came under Air Force Space Command in 1993.