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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Caen la Mer Airport (CFR), Caen, France and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,104 miles (or 6,605 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 Caen la Mer 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 Caen la Mer 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 Caen la Mer Airport (CFR):

• Caen la Mer Airport (CFR) has 2 runways.
• Because of Caen la Mer Airport's relatively low elevation of 256 feet, planes can take off or land at Caen la Mer 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 furthest airport from Caen la Mer Airport (CFR) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Caen la Mer Airport (meaning Caen la Mer Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,021 miles (19,345 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Caen la Mer Airport", another name for CFR is "Aéroport de Caen la Mer".
• The closest airport to Caen la Mer Airport (CFR) is Deauville - Saint-Gatien Airport (DOL), which is located 30 miles (49 kilometers) ENE of CFR.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• Following the departure of the last B-1B aircraft in 1994, the base transferred to the new Air Mobility Command and the 319th Bomb Wing was redesignated as the 319th Air Refueling Wing.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• Grand Forks Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation in northeastern North Dakota, located north of Emerado and 16 miles west of 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.
• 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.
• Grand Forks AFB is the home of the Air Mobility Command's 319th Air Base Wing.
• 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 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 3 November 1967, the Department of Defense revealed that GFAFB was one of 10 initial locations to host a Sentinel Anti-Ballistic Missile site.