Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Dali, Yunnan, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Dali Airport (DLU), Dali, Yunnan, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,016 miles (or 11,290 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 Dali Airport, 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 Dali Airport. 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 Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA):

• In 1959 a SAGE data center was established at Malmstrom.
• This included one of the greatest technology transfers in the history of the world.
• In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
• After World War II ended Great Falls AAB assumed a support mission for military personnel assigned to Alaskan military installations.
• 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.
• 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 1957, under the control of the 801st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, the Malmstrom AFB radar station became operational with AN/FPS-20 search and AN/FPS-6 height-finder radars.
• At Great Falls, P-39 Airacobras, C-47 Skytrains, B-25 Mitchells, and A-20 Havocs aircraft.
• Z-147 was completely replaced by a new ARSR-4 JSS site on Bootlegger Ridge, about 14 miles northeast of Great Falls AFB.
• Construction of the wing's first launch facility began in March 1961 and was completed in December.
• Originally named Great Falls Army Air Base, later Great Falls Air Force Base, the facility was renamed Malmstrom Air Force Base on 1 October 1955 in honor of Colonel Einar Axel Malmstrom.

Facts about Dali Airport (DLU):

• The closest airport to Dali Airport (DLU) is Lijiang Sanyi Airport (LJG), which is located 71 miles (115 kilometers) N of DLU.
• The furthest airport from Dali Airport (DLU) is Chañaral Airport (CNR), which is located 11,871 miles (19,105 kilometers) away in Chañaral, Atacama Region, Chile.
• Dali Airport handled 274,486 passengers last year.
• Because of Dali Airport's high elevation of 7,050 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at DLU. Combined with a high temperature, this could make DLU a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Dali Airport", other names for DLU include "大理机场" and "Dàlǐ Jīchǎng".
• Dali Airport (DLU) currently has only 1 runway.