Nonstop flight route between Exmouth, Western Australia, Australia and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAAF Learmonth (LEA), Exmouth, Western Australia, Australia and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,953 miles (or 16,018 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 RAAF Learmonth 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 RAAF Learmonth 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 RAAF Learmonth (LEA):

• In addition to being known as "RAAF Learmonth", another name for LEA is "Learmonth Airport".
• The closest airport to RAAF Learmonth (LEA) is Barrow Island Airport (BWB), which is located 127 miles (204 kilometers) NE of LEA.
• The furthest airport from RAAF Learmonth (LEA) is Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (SIG), which is nearly antipodal to RAAF Learmonth (meaning RAAF Learmonth is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport), and is located 12,175 miles (19,594 kilometers) away in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
• In the mid-1960s, the Federal Government gave its support to plans by the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Val Hancock, to redevelop Learmonth as a 'bare base', due to its proximity to Indonesia.
• Because of RAAF Learmonth's relatively low elevation of 19 feet, planes can take off or land at RAAF Learmonth 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.
• During World War II a little-known landing field was constructed on the western shore of Exmouth Gulf.
• RAAF Learmonth (LEA) currently has only 1 runway.
• RAAF Learmonth handled 90,861 passengers last year.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• In 1973, the 319th Bomb Wing acquired the AGM-69 Short Range Attack Missile, replacing the older AGM-28 Hound Dog air-to-ground missile aboard its B-52H aircraft.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".