Nonstop flight route between Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mainz Finthen Airport (QMZ), Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,356 miles (or 7,011 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 Mainz Finthen 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 Mainz Finthen 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 Mainz Finthen Airport (QMZ):

• The furthest airport from Mainz Finthen Airport (QMZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,959 miles (19,246 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• With the end of the war, Ober Olm Airfield was closed on 20 June 1945.
• The closest airport to Mainz Finthen Airport (QMZ) is Lucius D. Clay KaserneWiesbaden Army AirfieldWiesbaden Air BaseAdvanced Landing Ground Y-80Fliegerhorst Wiesbaden (WIE), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) NE of QMZ.
• In addition to being known as "Mainz Finthen Airport", other names for QMZ include "Flugplatz Mainz-Finthen" and "Advanced Landing Ground Y-64".
• The airport was taken over by the French military in July 1945, and engineers moved in to clear the wartime wreckage and rebuild the facility.
• Since the withdrawal of the United States Army, the airfield has been operated by the Mainz Aviation Club beginning in 1994, and on 1 August 2008, turned over to a commercial airport operator.
• Because of Mainz Finthen Airport's relatively low elevation of 525 feet, planes can take off or land at Mainz Finthen 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.
• With the end of the Cold War and the subsequent reorganization of U.S.
• In the course of the war of the United States against Libya in 1986/87, the area was cordoned off because of the increased need for security fencing and militarily.
• Mainz Finthen Airport (QMZ) has 2 runways.

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• 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 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.
• On 3 November 1967, the Department of Defense revealed that GFAFB was one of 10 initial locations to host a Sentinel Anti-Ballistic Missile site.
• 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.
• Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.
• 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 May 2005, DoD's 2005 BRAC recommended GFAFB for realignment.
• 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.
• The DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile Wing.