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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Enschede Airport Twente (ENS), Enschede, Netherlands and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,208 miles (or 6,772 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 Enschede Airport Twente 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 Enschede Airport Twente 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 Enschede Airport Twente (ENS):

• The closest airport to Enschede Airport Twente (ENS) is Rheine-Bentlage Air Base (ZPQ), which is located 21 miles (34 kilometers) E of ENS.
• Historical destinations include charter flights to Las Palmas, Antalya, Palma de Mallorca, Faro and Heraklion.
• The furthest airport from Enschede Airport Twente (ENS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,832 miles (19,042 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• On 7 December 2007 military use of the airport ceased.
• In addition to being known as "Enschede Airport Twente", another name for ENS is "(Advanced Landing Ground B-106)".
• Enschede Airport Twente (ENS) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Enschede Airport Twente's relatively low elevation of 115 feet, planes can take off or land at Enschede Airport Twente 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 3 September 1974, the SAFSCOM Site Activation Team was relieved by the U.S.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The 4133d SW was redesignated as the 319th Bombardment Wing on 1 February 1963 in a name-only redesigation and was assigned to SAC's Second Air Force, 810th Strategic Aerospace Division.
• 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.
• Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.
• 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 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.
• On 1 February 1993, ACC dropped the 319th Bomb Wing's primary nuclear mission and gave the wing the primary mission of B-1B conventional bombardment operations.
• Grand Forks AFB is the home of the Air Mobility Command's 319th Air Base Wing.