Nonstop flight route between Great Barrier Island, New Zealand and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Great Barrier Aerodrome (GBZ), Great Barrier Island, New Zealand and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,899 miles (or 12,713 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 Great Barrier Aerodrome 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 Great Barrier Aerodrome 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 Great Barrier Aerodrome (GBZ):

• Because of Great Barrier Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 21 feet, planes can take off or land at Great Barrier Aerodrome 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.
• The closest airport to Great Barrier Aerodrome (GBZ) is Coromandel Aerodrome (CMV), which is located 38 miles (61 kilometers) S of GBZ.
• The furthest airport from Great Barrier Aerodrome (GBZ) is Málaga Airport (AGP), which is nearly antipodal to Great Barrier Aerodrome (meaning Great Barrier Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Málaga Airport), and is located 12,407 miles (19,967 kilometers) away in Málaga, Spain.
• Great Barrier Aerodrome (GBZ) has 2 runways.

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