Nonstop flight route between Cholet, France and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Cholet Le Pontreau Airport (CET), Cholet, France and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,182 miles (or 6,730 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 Cholet Le Pontreau 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 Cholet Le Pontreau 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 Cholet Le Pontreau Airport (CET):

• The closest airport to Cholet Le Pontreau Airport (CET) is Nantes Atlantique Airport (NTE), which is located 35 miles (56 kilometers) W of CET.
• Cholet Le Pontreau Airport (CET) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Cholet Le Pontreau Airport", another name for CET is "Aéroport de Cholet Le Pontreau".
• The furthest airport from Cholet Le Pontreau Airport (CET) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Cholet Le Pontreau Airport (meaning Cholet Le Pontreau Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,125 miles (19,514 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• 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.
• On 1 November 1964, 321st Strategic Missile Wing was organized as the Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile wing at GFAFB, the first in SAC.
• 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.
• 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.