Nonstop flight route between Jacksonville, Illinois, United States and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Imeson FieldJacksonville Army AirfieldNaval Auxiliary Air Station Jacksonville #1 (IJX), Jacksonville, Illinois, United States and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,471 miles (or 2,367 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 Imeson FieldJacksonville Army AirfieldNaval Auxiliary Air Station Jacksonville #1 and Grand Forks Air Force Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Imeson FieldJacksonville Army AirfieldNaval Auxiliary Air Station Jacksonville #1 (IJX):

• By 1941 the airport had expanded to 600 acres adding five hangars, a terminal building and five asphalt runways, the longest being 7,000 feet.
• In the fall of 1945, jurisdiction of Jacksonville AAF was transferred to Air Technical Service Command, whose mission was the transfer of any useful military equipment to other bases around the country.
• The antisubmarine mission was turned over to the United States Navy in mid-1943, and Naval Auxiliary Air Station Jacksonville began to operate Consolidated PB4Y-1 long range bombers from Jacksonville AAF equipped with antisubmarine equipment.
• In 1968, the 125 FIG relocated from Jacksonville Imeson Airport to a newly constructed military installation at the newly constructed Jacksonville International Airport.
• The furthest airport from Imeson FieldJacksonville Army AirfieldNaval Auxiliary Air Station Jacksonville #1 (IJX) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,460 miles (18,442 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Imeson FieldJacksonville Army AirfieldNaval Auxiliary Air Station Jacksonville #1's relatively low elevation of 20 feet, planes can take off or land at Imeson FieldJacksonville Army AirfieldNaval Auxiliary Air Station Jacksonville #1 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 closest airport to Imeson FieldJacksonville Army AirfieldNaval Auxiliary Air Station Jacksonville #1 (IJX) is Jacksonville International Airport (JAX), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) NNW of IJX.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• On 26 May 1972, President Nixon and Soviet general secretary Leonid Brezhnev signed the ABM Treaty, which limited each nation to one site to protect strategic forces and one site to protect the "National Command Authority." With work about 85 percent complete at Grand Forks, the United States chose to finish construction at the North Dakota site.
• Due to the continuance of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, GFAFB was originally an Air Defense Command fighter-interceptor air base.
• The furthest airport from Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,504 miles (16,904 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• During the Cold War, GFAFB was a major installation of the Strategic Air Command, with B-52 bombers, KC-135 tankers, and Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles.
• During 1965, the wing’s three missile squadrons were activated and crew training and certification began at Vandenberg AFB in southern California.
• The closest airport to Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR) is Grand Forks International Airport (GFK), which is located only 10 miles (17 kilometers) E of RDR.
• In October 1977, the PAR came under operational control of the USAF, which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system.