Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Kekaha, Hawaii, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GFA to BKH:
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- About this route
- GFA Airport Information
- BKH Airport Information
- Facts about GFA
- Facts about BKH
- Map of Nearest Airports to GFA
- List of Nearest Airports to GFA
- Map of Furthest Airports from GFA
- List of Furthest Airports from GFA
- Map of Nearest Airports to BKH
- List of Nearest Airports to BKH
- Map of Furthest Airports from BKH
- List of Furthest Airports from BKH
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and PMRF Barking Sands (BKH), Kekaha, Hawaii, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,200 miles (or 5,150 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 Malmstrom Air Force Base and PMRF Barking Sands, 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 Malmstrom Air Force Base and PMRF Barking Sands. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | GFA / KGFA |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Great Falls, Montana, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 47°30'16"N by 111°11'13"W |
| View all routes: | Routes from GFA |
| More Information: | GFA Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | BKH / PHBK |
| Airport Name: | PMRF Barking Sands |
| Location: | Kekaha, Hawaii, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 22°1'22"N by 159°47'5"W |
| Operator/Owner: | U.S. Navy |
| Airport Type: | Military |
| Elevation: | 23 feet (7 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from BKH |
| More Information: | BKH Maps & Info |
Facts about Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA):
- The furthest airport from Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,495 miles (16,891 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
- The North American Aerospace Defense Command was created in 1957.
- The 801st Radar Squadron was inactivated on 31 December 1969 due to budget reductions.
- After World War II ended Great Falls AAB assumed a support mission for military personnel assigned to Alaskan military installations.
- Upon completion of the B-17 training program, in October 1943, Great Falls Army Air Base was transferred to the Air Transport Command and units from Gore Field were transferred to the base.
- The closest airport to Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA) is Great Falls International Airport (GTF), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) W of GFA.
Facts about PMRF Barking Sands (BKH):
- PMRF Barking Sands (BKH) currently has only 1 runway.
- In 1921, the land area known as the Barking Sands was acquired by the Kekaha Sugar Company and became a runway for private planes.
- The furthest airport from PMRF Barking Sands (BKH) is Gobabis Airport (GOG), which is nearly antipodal to PMRF Barking Sands (meaning PMRF Barking Sands is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Gobabis Airport), and is located 12,351 miles (19,877 kilometers) away in Gobabis, Namibia.
- When North Korea threatened to launch Taepodong-2 ICBMs toward Hawaii in 2009, the US temporarily deployed THAAD missile batteries to the facility.
- The closest airport to PMRF Barking Sands (BKH) is Port Allen Airport (PAK), which is located only 15 miles (23 kilometers) SE of BKH.
- The base has support facilities at Port Allen, Makaha Ridge, and Koke'e State Park.
- Because of PMRF Barking Sands's relatively low elevation of 23 feet, planes can take off or land at PMRF Barking Sands 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.
