Nonstop flight route between Great Falls, Montana, United States and Grand Canyon, Arizona, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from GFA to VLE:
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- About this route
- GFA Airport Information
- VLE Airport Information
- Facts about GFA
- Facts about VLE
- 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 VLE
- List of Nearest Airports to VLE
- Map of Furthest Airports from VLE
- List of Furthest Airports from VLE
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA), Great Falls, Montana, United States and Valle Airport (VLE), Grand Canyon, Arizona, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 821 miles (or 1,321 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 Valle 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: | VLE / |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Grand Canyon, Arizona, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 35°38'58"N by 112°8'30"W |
| Area Served: | Valle, Arizona |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 5999 feet (1,828 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from VLE |
| More Information: | VLE Maps & Info |
Facts about Malmstrom Air Force Base (GFA):
- In addition to being known as "Malmstrom Air Force Base", another name for GFA is "Malmstrom AFB".
- 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.
- On 21 August 1954 the 407th SFW Vice Commander, Colonel Einar Axel Malmstrom, died when his T-33 Shooting Star trainer crashed approximately one mile west of the Great Falls Municipal Airport.
- 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.
- 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.
Facts about Valle Airport (VLE):
- The furthest airport from Valle Airport (VLE) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,305 miles (18,194 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- In addition to being known as "Valle Airport", another name for VLE is "40G".
- Valle Airport (VLE) currently has only 1 runway.
- Because of Valle Airport's high elevation of 5,999 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at VLE. Combined with a high temperature, this could make VLE a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- For the 12-month period ending April 20, 2009, the airport had 6,500 general aviation aircraft operations, an average of 18 per day.
- The closest airport to Valle Airport (VLE) is Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN), which is located 21 miles (34 kilometers) N of VLE.
