Nonstop flight route between Cuenca, Ecuador and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mariscal Lamar International Airport (CUE), Cuenca, Ecuador and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,685 miles (or 5,931 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 Mariscal Lamar 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 Mariscal Lamar 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 Mariscal Lamar International Airport (CUE):

• In addition to being known as "Mariscal Lamar International Airport", another name for CUE is "Aeropuerto Mariscal Lamar".
• Mariscal Lamar International Airport (CUE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Mariscal Lamar International Airport (CUE) is Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (SZB), which is nearly antipodal to Mariscal Lamar International Airport (meaning Mariscal Lamar International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport), and is located 12,396 miles (19,950 kilometers) away in Subang (near Kuala Lumpur), Malaysia.
• Because of Mariscal Lamar International Airport's high elevation of 8,306 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at CUE. Combined with a high temperature, this could make CUE a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The closest airport to Mariscal Lamar International Airport (CUE) is Col. Edmundo Carvajal Airport (XMS), which is located 72 miles (116 kilometers) NE of CUE.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• 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".
• 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 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.
• Opened 57 years ago in early 1957, the base's current host unit is the 319th Air Base Wing assigned to the Expeditionary Center of the Air Mobility Command.
• 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.
• With the restructuring of the Air Force and the disestablishment of SAC in 1992, the wing transferred to Air Combat Command, then came under Air Force Space Command in 1993.