Nonstop flight route between Oakham, England, United Kingdom and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Cottesmore (OKH), Oakham, England, United Kingdom and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,944 miles (or 6,348 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 RAF Cottesmore 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 RAF Cottesmore 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 RAF Cottesmore (OKH):

• The station became a satellite to RAF Wittering on 31 March 2011 with a civic parade and flypast to mark the disbandment of No 1 Sqn RAF, 800 NAS, 801 NAS and JFH.
• Because of RAF Cottesmore's relatively low elevation of 463 feet, planes can take off or land at RAF Cottesmore 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 furthest airport from RAF Cottesmore (OKH) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is located 11,813 miles (19,011 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• Cottesmore became home to the Tri-national Tornado Training Establishment.
• The badge of RAF Cottesmore consisted of a hunting horn, a five-pointed star and a horseshoe.
• RAF Cottesmore (OKH) currently has only 1 runway.
• RAF Cottesmore opened on 11 March 1938.
• The closest airport to RAF Cottesmore (OKH) is East Midlands Airport (EMA), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) WNW of OKH.
• Cottesmore's Hampdens' first trespass into hostile airspace was a leaflet dropping operation over northern France.
• In early December 2009, it was announced the station would close due to funding cut-backs, in part to help pay for additional helicopters for British operations in Afghanistan.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• During 1965, the wing’s three missile squadrons were activated and crew training and certification began at Vandenberg AFB in southern California.
• 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 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.
• 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 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 DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile Wing.
• 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.