Nonstop flight route between Bonthe, Sierra Leone and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sherbro International Airport (BTE), Bonthe, Sierra Leone and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,596 miles (or 9,006 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 Sherbro International 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 Sherbro International 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 Sherbro International Airport (BTE):

• The closest airport to Sherbro International Airport (BTE) is Gbangbatok Airport (GBK), which is located 22 miles (35 kilometers) NNE of BTE.
• Because of Sherbro International Airport's relatively low elevation of 14 feet, planes can take off or land at Sherbro International 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.
• Sherbro International Airport (BTE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Sherbro International Airport (BTE) is Ulawa Airport (RNA), which is nearly antipodal to Sherbro International Airport (meaning Sherbro International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ulawa Airport), and is located 12,028 miles (19,357 kilometers) away in Arona, Ulawa Island, Solomon Islands.

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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• 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.