Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Uden, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Volkel Air Base (UDE), Uden, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,637 miles (or 7,463 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 Volkel Air Base, 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 Volkel Air Base. 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):

• 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 became the temporary home of the 582nd Air Resupply and Communications Wing on 1 May 1953 which was transferred from Mountain Home AFB, Idaho.
• Great Falls played a major aerial defense role in North American air defense mission.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".

Facts about Volkel Air Base (UDE):

• The Dutch Naval Aviation Service started flying from Volkel in 1949 for training purposes.
• The closest airport to Volkel Air Base (UDE) is Weeze Airport (NRN), which is located only 20 miles (32 kilometers) E of UDE.
• The furthest airport from Volkel Air Base (UDE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,886 miles (19,128 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Volkel Air Base (UDE) has 2 runways.
• After the occupation of the Netherlands by Germany in 1940, the Luftwaffe constructed a diversion airfield for fighter aircraft called Nachtlandeplatz Volkel.
• In addition to being known as "Volkel Air Base", other names for UDE include "Vliegbasis Volkel" and "(Advanced Landing Ground B-80)".
• Because of Volkel Air Base's relatively low elevation of 72 feet, planes can take off or land at Volkel Air Base 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.
• The airport has two parallel runways, both in the 06/24 direction, and both being just over 3,020 metres long.
• It was believed that since the early 1960s, USAF nuclear weapons were stored at Volkel Air Base, to be used by the host nation's aircraft.