Nonstop flight route between Kōchi, Japan and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kōchi Airport (KCZ), Kōchi, Japan and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,982 miles (or 9,627 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 Kōchi 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 Kōchi 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 Kōchi Airport (KCZ):

• Kōchi Airport (KCZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Kōchi Airport (KCZ) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is nearly antipodal to Kōchi Airport (meaning Kōchi Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Rio Grande Regional Airport), and is located 12,083 miles (19,446 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• Kōchi Airport, also known as Kōchi Ryōma Airport, is a regional airport in Nankoku, a city in Kōchi Prefecture of Japan.
• In addition to being known as "Kōchi Airport", another name for KCZ is "高知空港".
• The closest airport to Kōchi Airport (KCZ) is Takamatsu Airport (TAK), which is located 50 miles (81 kilometers) NNE of KCZ.
• Because of Kōchi Airport's relatively low elevation of 29 feet, planes can take off or land at Kōchi 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.
• Kōchi Airport was originally built in 1944 as Kōchi Airfield for the Imperial Japanese Navy and from 1945 to 1952 the airport was under command of US forces.
• On 13 March 2007, All Nippon Airways Flight 1603, a Bombardier Dash 8, bound from Osaka to Kōchi, landed safely at the Kochi Airport after the front wheel of the plane failed to deploy.

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.
• Grand Forks Air Force Base was established on 1 December 1955, with construction beginning in the fall of that year.
• Opened 57 years ago in early 1957, the base's current host unit is the 319th Air Base Wing assigned to the Expeditionary Center of the Air Mobility Command.
• On 3 November 1967, the Department of Defense revealed that GFAFB was one of 10 initial locations to host a Sentinel Anti-Ballistic Missile site.
• 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.
• On 1 November 1964, 321st Strategic Missile Wing was organized as the Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile wing at GFAFB, the first in SAC.
• In addition to the interceptor squadrons, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center was established at Grand Forks in 1958.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• 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.