Nonstop flight route between Lebakeng, Lesotho and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lebakeng Airport (LEF), Lebakeng, Lesotho and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,354 miles (or 15,054 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 Lebakeng 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 Lebakeng 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 Lebakeng Airport (LEF):

• The closest airport to Lebakeng Airport (LEF) is Lesobeng Airport (LES), which is located 20 miles (32 kilometers) WNW of LEF.
• The furthest airport from Lebakeng Airport (LEF) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,744 miles (18,900 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
• Lebakeng Airport (LEF) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Lebakeng Airport's high elevation of 6,040 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at LEF. Combined with a high temperature, this could make LEF a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• On 1 February 1993, ACC dropped the 319th Bomb Wing's primary nuclear mission and gave the wing the primary mission of B-1B conventional bombardment operations.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• 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.