Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Groningen / Eelde, Netherlands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Groningen Airport Eelde (GRQ), Groningen / Eelde, Netherlands would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,585 miles (or 7,379 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 Groningen Airport Eelde, 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 Groningen Airport Eelde. 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 November 1942, a survey team evaluated an area near the Green Mill Dance Club and Rainbow Dam Road approximately six miles east of Great Falls.
• Malmstrom Air Force Base traces its beginnings back to 1939 when World War II broke out in Europe.
• 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.
• 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.
• Great Falls became the temporary home of the 582nd Air Resupply and Communications Wing on 1 May 1953 which was transferred from Mountain Home AFB, Idaho.
• In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
• On 1 July 1968, the F-101B equipped 29th FIS was inactivated and replaced by the F-106 Delta Dart equipped 71st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which was reassigned from Richards Gebaur AFB when its ADC mission was eliminated.
• Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union increased dramatically when the Soviet Union closed all land travel between the western occupation sectors of Germany and the American, French and British sectors of Berlin.
• Later, the 517th Air Transport Wing was redesginated the 1701st Air Transport Wing on 1 June 1948 when Air Transport Command was redesignated the Military Air Transport Service.
• Great Falls was reassigned to the Central Air Defense Force at Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base in 1953.
• 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.
• At Great Falls, P-39 Airacobras, C-47 Skytrains, B-25 Mitchells, and A-20 Havocs aircraft.

Facts about Groningen Airport Eelde (GRQ):

• Groningen Airport Eelde handled 20,866 passengers last year.
• On July 13, 1928 the community's council agrees on a proposal to allocate 'Hakenkampsveld', a 12 hectare terrain within the municipality of Eelde, as an airport.
• Groningen Airport Eelde (GRQ) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Groningen Airport Eelde (GRQ) is Emden Airport (EME), which is located 32 miles (52 kilometers) NE of GRQ.
• Because of Groningen Airport Eelde's relatively low elevation of 17 feet, planes can take off or land at Groningen Airport Eelde 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.
• Early 1945, the Germans abandoned their "Fliegerhorst", as they called it.
• Ryanair started a scheduled service to its London Stansted base in 2003.
• The furthest airport from Groningen Airport Eelde (GRQ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,778 miles (18,956 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.