Nonstop flight route between San Rafael, Mendoza, Argentina and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between San Rafael Airport (AFA), San Rafael, Mendoza, Argentina and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,978 miles (or 9,621 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 San Rafael 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 San Rafael 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 San Rafael Airport (AFA):

• In addition to being known as "San Rafael Airport", another name for AFA is "Aeropuerto San Rafael "Santiago Germano"".
• San Rafael Airport (AFA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from San Rafael Airport (AFA) is Luoyang Beijiao Airport (LYA), which is nearly antipodal to San Rafael Airport (meaning San Rafael Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Luoyang Beijiao Airport), and is located 12,391 miles (19,941 kilometers) away in Luoyang, Henan, China.
• The closest airport to San Rafael Airport (AFA) is Comodoro D. Ricardo Salomón Airport (LGS), which is located 91 miles (147 kilometers) SW of AFA.

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".
• Due to the continuance of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, GFAFB was originally an Air Defense Command fighter-interceptor air base.
• 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.
• 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 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.