Nonstop flight route between Puerto Limón, Costa Rica and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Limón International Airport (LIO), Puerto Limón, Costa Rica and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,756 miles (or 4,435 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 Limón International 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 Limón International 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 Limón International Airport (LIO):

• Puerto Limón and the southern Caribbean area towns of Cahuita, Puerto Viejo, Manzanillo and Gandoca, as well as the indigenous communities of Bri Bri, Hone Creek, Carbon 1 and 2, Shiroles and Suretka are all within two hours of the airport by ground transportation.
• Because of Limón International Airport's relatively low elevation of 7 feet, planes can take off or land at Limón International 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 closest airport to Limón International Airport (LIO) is Changuinola "Capitan Manuel Niño" International Airport (CHX), which is located 47 miles (76 kilometers) SE of LIO.
• Limón International Airport (LIO) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Limón International Airport (LIO) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is nearly antipodal to Limón International Airport (meaning Limón International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport), and is located 12,282 miles (19,766 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "Limón International Airport", another name for LIO is "Aeropuerto Internacional de Limón".
• http://www.sansacostarica.com/

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• 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.
• 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 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 18 February 1957, the 478th Fighter Group was activated at Grand Forks.
• The 4133d SW was redesignated as the 319th Bombardment Wing on 1 February 1963 in a name-only redesigation and was assigned to SAC's Second Air Force, 810th Strategic Aerospace Division.
• 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.