Nonstop flight route between Pilanesberg, South Africa and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Pilanesberg International Airport (NTY), Pilanesberg, South Africa and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,079 miles (or 14,610 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 Pilanesberg 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 Pilanesberg 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 Pilanesberg International Airport (NTY):

• Pilanesberg International Airport (NTY) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Pilanesberg International Airport (NTY) is Lanseria International Airport (HLA), which is located 63 miles (101 kilometers) SE of NTY.
• The furthest airport from Pilanesberg International Airport (NTY) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is nearly antipodal to Pilanesberg International Airport (meaning Pilanesberg International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Hana Airport), and is located 12,064 miles (19,414 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• 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.
• 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.
• Opened 57 years ago in early 1957, the base's current host unit is the 319th Air Base Wing assigned to the Expeditionary Center of the Air Mobility Command.
• Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.
• 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.
• In March 1995, the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission selected the 321st Strategic Missile Wing for inactivation.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".