Nonstop flight route between Den Helder, Netherlands and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between De Kooy Airfield (DHR), Den Helder, Netherlands and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,112 miles (or 6,617 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 De Kooy Airfield 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 De Kooy Airfield 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 De Kooy Airfield (DHR):

• De Kooy Airfield (DHR) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from De Kooy Airfield (DHR) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,805 miles (18,998 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to De Kooy Airfield (DHR) is Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS), which is located 43 miles (68 kilometers) S of DHR.
• Most movements on the De Kooy are made by helicopters, bringing workers to and from offshore oilrigs and naval helicopters such as the Westland Lynx or NH90 of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
• In addition to being known as "De Kooy Airfield", other names for DHR include "Vliegveld De Kooy", "Den Helder Airport" and "Maritiem Vliegkamp De Kooy".
• De Kooy Airfield is an airfield 2.9 NM south of Den Helder, the Netherlands, named after the nearby hamlet De Kooy.
• There are currently no scheduled services to and from Den Helder.
• Because of De Kooy Airfield's relatively low elevation of 4 feet, planes can take off or land at De Kooy Airfield 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.