Nonstop flight route between Cork, Ireland and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Cork Airport (ORK), Cork, Ireland and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,711 miles (or 5,972 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 Cork 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 Cork 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 Cork Airport (ORK):

• Cork Airport is one of the three principal international airports of Ireland, along with Dublin and Shannon.
• The furthest airport from Cork Airport (ORK) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is nearly antipodal to Cork Airport (meaning Cork Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ryan's Creek Aerodrome), and is located 12,063 miles (19,413 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Because of Cork Airport's relatively low elevation of 502 feet, planes can take off or land at Cork 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.
• In addition to being known as "Cork Airport", another name for ORK is "Aerfort Chorcaí".
• Cork Airport has a long history of general aviation flying.
• On 11 April 2008, the board of Cork Airport Authority agreed by one vote to accept responsibility for a debt of €113 million incurred by the Dublin Airport Authority in the redevelopment of Cork Airport to secure independence from Dublin Airport.
• Cork Airport handled 2,340,141 passengers last year.
• In 1975 Aer Rianta, the then state airports authority, undertook a passenger terminal study aimed at improving the terminal facilities.
• From its opening in 1961 the airport was managed by the Department of Transport and Power, now the Department of Transport.
• The closest airport to Cork Airport (ORK) is Bantry Aerodrome (BYT), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) WSW of ORK.
• Cork Airport (ORK) has 2 runways.
• Passenger numbers at Cork Airport increased every year during the ten years between 1998 and 2008 by an average of 14.8% per annum from around 1.3 million to over 3.2 million.
• Cork Airport has a development plan that describes an effective trebling in size of the current airport.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• Grand Forks Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation in northeastern North Dakota, located north of Emerado and 16 miles west of Grand Forks.
• The DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile Wing.
• In addition to the interceptor squadrons, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center was established at Grand Forks in 1958.
• On 1 November 1964, 321st Strategic Missile Wing was organized as the Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile wing at GFAFB, the first in SAC.
• 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.
• On 1 September 1958, the Strategic Air Command established the 4133d Strategic Wing at Grand Forks as part of its plan to disperse its B-52 heavy bombers over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike.
• Grand Forks AFB is the home of the Air Mobility Command's 319th Air Base Wing.
• 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 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.