Nonstop flight route between Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport (FLN), Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,039 miles (or 9,718 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 Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz 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 Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz 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 Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport (FLN):

• Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport handled 3,395,253 passengers last year.
• Because of Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport's relatively low elevation of 16 feet, planes can take off or land at Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International 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.
• Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport (FLN) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport (FLN) is Navegantes Airport (NVT), which is located 55 miles (89 kilometers) N of FLN.
• The furthest airport from Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport (FLN) is Kikai Airport (KKX), which is nearly antipodal to Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport (meaning Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Kikai Airport), and is located 12,334 miles (19,849 kilometers) away in Kikaiga Shima, Kikai-Shima Island, Japan.
• The airport was built on the site of an old Air Naval Base, which operated until 1941, when its jurisdiction changed to the Brazilian Air Force.
• In addition to being known as "Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz International Airport", another name for FLN is "Aeroporto Internacional de Florianópolis-Hercílio Luz".

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".
• Grand Forks AFB is the home of the Air Mobility Command's 319th Air Base Wing.
• 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 DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile Wing.
• 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 November 1964, 321st Strategic Missile Wing was organized as the Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile wing at GFAFB, the first in SAC.
• In 1971, the 18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was inactivated and the 460th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron replaced the unit.
• 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.