Nonstop flight route between Bantry, County Cork, Ireland and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Bantry Aerodrome (BYT), Bantry, County Cork, Ireland and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,682 miles (or 5,926 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 Bantry Aerodrome 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 Bantry Aerodrome 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 Bantry Aerodrome (BYT):

• The furthest airport from Bantry Aerodrome (BYT) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is nearly antipodal to Bantry Aerodrome (meaning Bantry Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ryan's Creek Aerodrome), and is located 12,090 miles (19,457 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Bantry Aerodrome (BYT) is Kerry Airport (KIR), which is located 35 miles (57 kilometers) N of BYT.
• Bantry Aerodrome (BYT) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Bantry Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Bantry Aerodrome 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.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (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 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.
• 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.
• The 319th transitioned from B-52H to re-engined B-52G aircraft in 1983, and added the AGM-86 Air Launched Cruise Missile in 1984.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".