Nonstop flight route between Colón, Panama and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport (ONX), Colón, Panama and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,856 miles (or 4,597 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 Enrique Adolfo Jiménez 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 Enrique Adolfo Jiménez 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 Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport (ONX):

• Because of Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport's relatively low elevation of 26 feet, planes can take off or land at Enrique Adolfo Jiménez 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.
• By 1930, the expanding Air Corps in the Canal Zone required a new organization.
• The closest airport to Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport (ONX) is Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport (PAC), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) SE of ONX.
• With the return of the Canal Zone to Panama on 1 October 1979, the airport was renamed for Enrique Adolfo Jiménez, who served as Panamanian president from 1945 to 1948.
• Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport (ONX) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport (ONX) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is nearly antipodal to Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport (meaning Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport), and is located 12,139 miles (19,536 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• Almost from the beginning, it was realized that flying in the tropics was very different than in the United States.
• In addition to being known as "Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport", another name for ONX is "Aeropuerto Enrique Adolfo Jiménez".

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• On 3 September 1974, the SAFSCOM Site Activation Team was relieved by the U.S.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• The DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile Wing.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.