Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Lelystad, Netherlands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Lelystad Airport (LEY), Lelystad, Netherlands would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,591 miles (or 7,388 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 Lelystad 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 Lelystad 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 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.
• In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
• Malmstrom Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place in Great Falls, Cascade County, Montana, United States.
• 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.
• 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.
• The North American Aerospace Defense Command was created in 1957.
• 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.
• This included one of the greatest technology transfers in the history of the world.
• Great Falls played a major aerial defense role in North American air defense mission.

Facts about Lelystad Airport (LEY):

• Lelystad Airport (LEY) has 2 runways.
• An expansion of the airport is planned which would allow mainly budget airlines, holiday charters and regional airlines using aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320 series to operate from Lelystad.
• As Lelystad is the biggest General Aviation airfield in the Netherlands, AOPA is concerned that commercial aviation will have a negative impact on the General Aviation users, and has proposed the construction of a new parallel runway south of the airport to improve traffic flow.
• The closest airport to Lelystad Airport (LEY) is Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS), which is located 34 miles (54 kilometers) WSW of LEY.
• Because of Lelystad Airport's relatively low elevation of -12 feet, planes can take off or land at Lelystad 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.
• Because of the museum, various aviation events are frequently held at the airport.
• At first Lelystad had grass taxi- and runways, but it was found that the clay could not support all the traffic, and tracks started to form.
• The furthest airport from Lelystad Airport (LEY) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,832 miles (19,042 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.