Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Hailey, Idaho, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GFA to SUN:
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- About this route
- GFA Airport Information
- SUN Airport Information
- Facts about GFA
- Facts about SUN
- 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 SUN
- List of Nearest Airports to SUN
- Map of Furthest Airports from SUN
- List of Furthest Airports from SUN
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Friedman Memorial Airport (SUN), Hailey, Idaho, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 315 miles (or 506 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 relatively short distance between Malmstrom Air Force Base and Friedman Memorial Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
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: | SUN / KSUN |
| Airport Name: | Friedman Memorial Airport |
| Location: | Hailey, Idaho, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 43°30'14"N by 114°17'44"W |
| Area Served: | Hailey, Ketchum, Sun Valley |
| Operator/Owner: | City of Hailey |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 5318 feet (1,621 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from SUN |
| More Information: | SUN Maps & Info |
Facts about Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA):
- At Great Falls, P-39 Airacobras, C-47 Skytrains, B-25 Mitchells, and A-20 Havocs aircraft.
- 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.
- Aircraft shipments to the Soviet Union stopped in September 1945, when World War II ended, with approximately 8,000 aircraft having been processed in a 21-month period.
- Following World War II, Great Falls Army Air Base played an important role in US defense during the Cold War era.
- 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.
- 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.
- Great Falls was reassigned to the Central Air Defense Force at Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base in 1953.
- 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.
- In 1959 a SAGE data center was established at Malmstrom.
- 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.
- 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.
Facts about Friedman Memorial Airport (SUN):
- The furthest airport from Friedman Memorial Airport (SUN) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 10,794 miles (17,372 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
- Because of Friedman Memorial Airport's high elevation of 5,318 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at SUN. Combined with a high temperature, this could make SUN a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- Friedman Memorial Airport (SUN) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Friedman Memorial Airport (SUN) is Challis Airport (CHL), which is located 71 miles (114 kilometers) N of SUN.
- Delta Air Lines is the dominant carrier at the airport via its Delta Connection service which was operated for many years by SkyWest Airlines with Embraer EMB-120 "Brasilia" turboprop aircraft.
- In the 1970s, the airport was served by Sun Valley Airlines using de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, Convair 440, Piper Navajo and other propeller-driven aircraft.
- Friedman Memorial Airport covers an area of 171 acres at an elevation of 5,318 feet above sea level.
