Nonstop flight route between Kirensk, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kirensk Airport (KCK), Kirensk, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,988 miles (or 8,027 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 Kirensk 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 Kirensk 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 Kirensk Airport (KCK):

• Kirensk Airport (KCK) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Kirensk Airport's relatively low elevation of 840 feet, planes can take off or land at Kirensk 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.
• The furthest airport from Kirensk Airport (KCK) is Ushuaia International Airport (USH), which is nearly antipodal to Kirensk Airport (meaning Kirensk Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ushuaia International Airport), and is located 12,191 miles (19,619 kilometers) away in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.
• In addition to being known as "Kirensk Airport", another name for KCK is "Аэропорт Киренск".
• The closest airport to Kirensk Airport (KCK) is Ust-Kut Airport (UKX), which is located 108 miles (173 kilometers) SW of KCK.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• 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.
• On 18 February 1957, the 478th Fighter Group was activated at Grand Forks.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• On 1 September 1958, the Strategic Air Command established the 4133d Strategic Wing at Grand Forks as part of its plan to disperse its B-52 heavy bombers over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.