Nonstop flight route between Cayenne, French Guiana and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY), Cayenne, French Guiana and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,989 miles (or 6,419 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 Cayenne – Félix Eboué 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 Cayenne – Félix Eboué 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 Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY):

• Because of Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport's relatively low elevation of 24 feet, planes can take off or land at Cayenne – Félix Eboué 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.
• In 2009, passenger traffic totaled 400,025 passengers compared to 2008 with 385,142 passengers.
• Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY) is Pattimura Airport (PTA) (AMQ), which is nearly antipodal to Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (meaning Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Pattimura Airport (PTA)), and is located 12,354 miles (19,882 kilometers) away in Ambon, Indonesia.
• The airfield of Cayenne was built in 1943 in 10 months by the American army who wanted to be able to reach Africa when flying there with its bombers.
• The closest airport to Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (CAY) is Saül Airport (XAU), which is located 102 miles (163 kilometers) SW of CAY.
• The name of Rochambeau creates controversy because of the bad reputation of the son of the dedicatee of the airport, Donatien-Marie-Joseph de Vimeur, vicomte de Rochambeau who during the Saint-Domingue expedition harshly repressed the Haitian Revolution.
• In addition to being known as "Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport", another name for CAY is "Aéroport de Cayenne – Félix Eboué".
• The airport has an elevation of 24 feet above mean sea level.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• 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 18 February 1957, the 478th Fighter Group was activated at Grand Forks.
• 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 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".
• 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.
• Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.
• 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.
• During 1965, the wing’s three missile squadrons were activated and crew training and certification began at Vandenberg AFB in southern California.
• 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.