Nonstop flight route between Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Belmont Airport (BEO), Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,795 miles (or 14,154 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 Belmont 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 Belmont 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 Belmont Airport (BEO):

• Because of Belmont Airport's relatively low elevation of 5 feet, planes can take off or land at Belmont 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 Belmont Airport (BEO) is Newcastle Airport (NTL), which is located 22 miles (35 kilometers) NNE of BEO.
• The furthest airport from Belmont Airport (BEO) is Santa Maria Airport (SMA), which is nearly antipodal to Belmont Airport (meaning Belmont Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Santa Maria Airport), and is located 12,112 miles (19,493 kilometers) away in Santa Maria, Portugal.
• Despite this, there have been attempts to restore the airport as an aviation facility since the withdrawal of Aeropelican, particularly since the closure and redevelopment of Cooranbong Airport, another privately owned airfield located to the west of Lake Macquarie.
• Under current guidelines, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority has classified Belmont as an Aircraft Landing Area as due to land constraints the site infrastructure does not meet the dimensions required to operate as a registered airport, placing some restriction on future uses for commercial passenger flights.
• Belmont Airport (BEO) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• In addition to the interceptor squadrons, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center was established at Grand Forks in 1958.
• On 1 November 1964, 321st Strategic Missile Wing was organized as the Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile wing at GFAFB, the first in SAC.
• 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 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".
• 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.
• In October 1977, the PAR came under operational control of the USAF, which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system.
• The DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile Wing.
• 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.