Nonstop flight route between Lyon, France and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Lyon–Bron Airport (LYN), Lyon, France and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,450 miles (or 7,162 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 Lyon–Bron 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 Lyon–Bron 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 Lyon–Bron Airport (LYN):

• Lyon–Bron Airport (LYN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Lyon–Bron Airport (LYN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Lyon–Bron Airport (meaning Lyon–Bron Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,288 miles (19,775 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Lyon–Bron Airport", another name for LYN is "Aéroport de Lyon-BronAdvanced Landing Ground (ALG) Y-6".
• The closest airport to Lyon–Bron Airport (LYN) is Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) E of LYN.
• In 1975 commercial airline traffic was moved to the new Lyon–Saint Exupéry Airport, and Bron Airport is now used for general aviation.
• The airport was established in 1920 and became an international airport in 1924 with flights to Geneva, Switzerland.
• After the Normandy Invasion of France by Allied Forces, the USAAF 50th Fighter Group used the airport flying P-47 Thunderbolts in support of ground forces in Southern France from September 25 though November, 1944.
• Because of Lyon–Bron Airport's relatively low elevation of 659 feet, planes can take off or land at Lyon–Bron 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.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• On 18 February 1957, the 478th Fighter Group was activated at Grand Forks.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• 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.
• 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 3 November 1967, the Department of Defense revealed that GFAFB was one of 10 initial locations to host a Sentinel Anti-Ballistic Missile 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.
• Following the departure of the last B-1B aircraft in 1994, the base transferred to the new Air Mobility Command and the 319th Bomb Wing was redesignated as the 319th Air Refueling Wing.
• 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.