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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Plymouth City Airport (PLH), Plymouth, United Kingdom and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,923 miles (or 6,313 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 Plymouth City 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 Plymouth City 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 Plymouth City Airport (PLH):

• The airport was owned by Plymouth City Council and leased to Plymouth based company Sutton Harbour Holdings.
• The closest airport to Plymouth City Airport (PLH) is Exeter International Airport (EXT), which is located 37 miles (60 kilometers) NE of PLH.
• Plymouth City Airport (PLH) currently has only 1 runway.
• Plymouth City Airport handled 157,933 passengers last year.
• Air Southwest had its management head office at the airport, but announced that 12 jobs would be lost and its Plymouth office would close, moving instead to Humberside Airport, which is the main operations base for Eastern Airways.
• The furthest airport from Plymouth City Airport (PLH) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is nearly antipodal to Plymouth City Airport (meaning Plymouth City Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Dunedin International Airport), and is located 12,030 miles (19,361 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• Because of Plymouth City Airport's relatively low elevation of 476 feet, planes can take off or land at Plymouth City 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 September 2007 the airport management announced that the second runway might be sold for industrial and residential development.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (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.
• On 1 November 1964, 321st Strategic Missile Wing was organized as the Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile wing at GFAFB, the first in SAC.
• In 1971, the 18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was inactivated and the 460th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron replaced the unit.
• 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.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• 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.
• 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.
• In October 1977, the PAR came under operational control of the USAF, which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system.