Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Monbetsu, Hokkaidō, Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Okhotsk Monbetsu Airport (MBE), Monbetsu, Hokkaidō, Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,647 miles (or 7,479 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 Okhotsk Monbetsu 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 Okhotsk Monbetsu 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):

• DC-20 was initially under the Great Falls Air Defense Sector, established on 1 March 1959.
• 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.
• At Great Falls, P-39 Airacobras, C-47 Skytrains, B-25 Mitchells, and A-20 Havocs aircraft.
• Great Falls was reassigned to the Central Air Defense Force at Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base in 1953.
• Malmstrom Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place in Great Falls, Cascade County, Montana, United States.
• 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 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.
• 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 addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
• Malmstrom AFB is one of three US Air Force Bases that maintains and operates the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile.
• With the phaseout of the B-36 from the inventory in the late 1950s, the need for fighter escorts of SAC bombers was eliminated.

Facts about Okhotsk Monbetsu Airport (MBE):

• Monbetsu Airport or Okhotsk Monbetsu Airport, is a third class airport located 3.8 NM southeast of Monbetsu, a city in the Hokkaidō prefecture of Japan.
• The closest airport to Okhotsk Monbetsu Airport (MBE) is Memanbetsu Airport (MMB), which is located 48 miles (77 kilometers) SE of MBE.
• The furthest airport from Okhotsk Monbetsu Airport (MBE) is Port Stanley Airport (PSY), which is located 11,338 miles (18,247 kilometers) away in Stanley, Falkland Islands, United Kingdom.
• Okhotsk Monbetsu Airport (MBE) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Okhotsk Monbetsu Airport", other names for MBE include "オホーツク紋別空港" and "Ohōtsuku Monbetsu Kūkō".
• In fiscal year 2008, Monbetsu Airport recorded an operating loss of 273 million yen on total revenues of only 26 million yen, making its operating losses the highest among the six airports operated by the Hokkaido government.
• Because of Okhotsk Monbetsu Airport's relatively low elevation of 58 feet, planes can take off or land at Okhotsk Monbetsu 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.