Nonstop flight route between Masterton, New Zealand and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hood Aerodrome (MRO), Masterton, New Zealand and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,112 miles (or 13,055 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 Hood Aerodrome 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 Hood Aerodrome 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 Hood Aerodrome (MRO):

• Because of Hood Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 364 feet, planes can take off or land at Hood Aerodrome 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 aerodrome is also been used as a dragstrip for over ten years and there are plans to build a purpose built dragstrip.
• The closest airport to Hood Aerodrome (MRO) is Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) W of MRO.
• The furthest airport from Hood Aerodrome (MRO) is Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1] (MAD), which is nearly antipodal to Hood Aerodrome (meaning Hood Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport[1]), and is located 12,382 miles (19,927 kilometers) away in Madrid, Spain.
• Hood Aerodrome is an aerodrome, located in southern urban area of Masterton, New Zealand it is only 1 NM South West from the town centre on South Road in Solway.
• Hood Aerodrome (MRO) has 4 runways.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• 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.
• 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".
• 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.
• 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.