Nonstop flight route between El Calafate, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Comandante Armando Tola International Airport (FTE), El Calafate, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,953 miles (or 11,190 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 Comandante Armando Tola 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 Comandante Armando Tola 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 Comandante Armando Tola International Airport (FTE):

• The closest airport to Comandante Armando Tola International Airport (FTE) is Lago Argentino Airport (ING), which is located only 11 miles (18 kilometers) WSW of FTE.
• The furthest airport from Comandante Armando Tola International Airport (FTE) is Baikal International Airport (UUD), which is nearly antipodal to Comandante Armando Tola International Airport (meaning Comandante Armando Tola International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Baikal International Airport), and is located 12,329 miles (19,842 kilometers) away in Ulan-Ude, Republic of Buryatia, Russia.
• Comandante Armando Tola International Airport (FTE) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Comandante Armando Tola International Airport", other names for FTE include "Aeropuerto Internacional de El Calafate – Comandante Armando Tola" and "SAWC".
• Because of Comandante Armando Tola International Airport's relatively low elevation of 669 feet, planes can take off or land at Comandante Armando Tola 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.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• In 1973, the 319th Bomb Wing acquired the AGM-69 Short Range Attack Missile, replacing the older AGM-28 Hound Dog air-to-ground missile aboard its B-52H aircraft.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to the interceptor squadrons, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center was established at Grand Forks in 1958.
• During 1965, the wing’s three missile squadrons were activated and crew training and certification began at Vandenberg AFB in southern California.
• 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 18 February 1957, the 478th Fighter Group was activated at Grand Forks.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• Grand Forks Air Force Base was established on 1 December 1955, with construction beginning in the fall of that year.