Nonstop flight route between Kiryat Shmona (Qiryat Shemona), Israel and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kiryat Shmona Airport (KSW), Kiryat Shmona (Qiryat Shemona), Israel and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,120 miles (or 9,850 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 Kiryat Shmona 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 Kiryat Shmona 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 Kiryat Shmona Airport (KSW):

• Kiryat Shmona Airport is a public Israeli airport located 2 km east of the northern town of Kiryat Shmona.
• Because of Kiryat Shmona Airport's relatively low elevation of 376 feet, planes can take off or land at Kiryat Shmona 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.
• Arkia handled domestic flights until end of 2003, when it closed down due to a lack of passenger traffic.
• Kiryat Shmona Airport (KSW) currently has only 1 runway.
• Runway 21 with Naftali hills in the background
• The furthest airport from Kiryat Shmona Airport (KSW) is Rurutu Airport (RUR), which is located 11,579 miles (18,635 kilometers) away in Rurutu, French Polynesia.
• The next closest airport is Ben Ya'akov near Rosh Pina, 30 km south.
• The closest airport to Kiryat Shmona Airport (KSW) is Beirut Air Base (BEY), which is located 42 miles (68 kilometers) N of KSW.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• In October 1977, the PAR came under operational control of the USAF, which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system.
• 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 is a United States Air Force installation in northeastern North Dakota, located north of Emerado and 16 miles west of Grand Forks.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 319th transitioned from B-52H to re-engined B-52G aircraft in 1983, and added the AGM-86 Air Launched Cruise Missile in 1984.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• The DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile Wing.