Nonstop flight route between St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, United Kingdom and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between St Mary's Airport (ISC), St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, United Kingdom and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,866 miles (or 6,222 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 St Mary's Airport and Grand Forks Air Force 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 St Mary's Airport and Grand Forks Air Force 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 St Mary's Airport (ISC):

• In addition to being known as "St Mary's Airport", other names for ISC include "Isles of Scilly Airport" and "Scilly Isles/St Mary's Airport".
• The furthest airport from St Mary's Airport (ISC) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is nearly antipodal to St Mary's Airport (meaning St Mary's Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Dunedin International Airport), and is located 12,117 miles (19,501 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to St Mary's Airport (ISC) is Tresco Heliport (TSO), which is located only 3 miles (5 kilometers) NW of ISC.
• The current 600m asphalt runway, 15/33, was built in 1991.
• St Mary's Airport (ISC) has 2 runways.
• In May 2013, the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company and the Council of the Isles of Scilly submitted a joint bid for finance from the European Regional Development Fund for improvements to the terminal, new lighting and navigational systems and runway resurfacing, together with runway resurfacing at Land's End Airport.
• On 15 September 1937, Olley Air Service's subsidiary Channel Air Ferries started the first scheduled service between Land's End and St Mary's, flying de Havilland Dragons.
• St Mary's Airport handled 89,170 passengers last year.
• Because of St Mary's Airport's relatively low elevation of 116 feet, planes can take off or land at St Mary's 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.

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".
• In October 1977, the PAR came under operational control of the USAF, which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system.
• With the restructuring of the Air Force and the disestablishment of SAC in 1992, the wing transferred to Air Combat Command, then came under Air Force Space Command in 1993.
• 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.
• 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.
• The DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile Wing.
• 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.
• SAGE operations were extremely expansive and GFADS was inactivated on 1 December 1963, when it was merged with the Minot Air Defense Sector at Minot AFB to the west.
• 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.