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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Épinal - Mirecourt Airport (EPL), Juvaincourt, Vosges, France and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,366 miles (or 7,026 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 Épinal - Mirecourt 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 Épinal - Mirecourt 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 Épinal - Mirecourt Airport (EPL):

• In addition to being known as "Épinal - Mirecourt Airport", another name for EPL is "Aéroport d'Épinal - Mirecourt".
• The closest airport to Épinal - Mirecourt Airport (EPL) is Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport (ETZ), which is located 46 miles (74 kilometers) N of EPL.
• Épinal - Mirecourt Airport (EPL) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Épinal - Mirecourt Airport (EPL) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Épinal - Mirecourt Airport (meaning Épinal - Mirecourt Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,102 miles (19,477 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• 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.
• 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 September 1974, the SAFSCOM Site Activation Team was relieved by the U.S.
• 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 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 DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile Wing.
• In addition to the interceptor squadrons, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center was established at Grand Forks in 1958.
• 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".
• In October 1977, the PAR came under operational control of the USAF, which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system.
• 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.