Nonstop flight route between Rochester, Kent, England, United Kingdom and Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from RCS to RDR:
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- About this route
- RCS Airport Information
- RDR Airport Information
- Facts about RCS
- Facts about RDR
- Map of Nearest Airports to RCS
- List of Nearest Airports to RCS
- Map of Furthest Airports from RCS
- List of Furthest Airports from RCS
- Map of Nearest Airports to RDR
- List of Nearest Airports to RDR
- Map of Furthest Airports from RDR
- List of Furthest Airports from RDR
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Rochester Airport (RCS), Rochester, Kent, England, United Kingdom and Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,042 miles (or 6,505 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 Rochester 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 Rochester 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:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | RCS / EGTO |
Airport Name: | Rochester Airport |
Location: | Rochester, Kent, England, United Kingdom |
GPS Coordinates: | 51°21'6"N by 0°30'10"E |
Operator/Owner: | Rochester Airport Ltd. |
Airport Type: | Private |
Elevation: | 426 feet (130 meters) |
# of Runways: | 3 |
View all routes: | Routes from RCS |
More Information: | RCS Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | RDR / KRDR |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 47°57'39"N by 97°24'3"W |
View all routes: | Routes from RDR |
More Information: | RDR Maps & Info |
Facts about Rochester Airport (RCS):
- The closest airport to Rochester Airport (RCS) is London Southend Airport (SEN), which is located only 17 miles (28 kilometers) NNE of RCS.
- Because of Rochester Airport's relatively low elevation of 426 feet, planes can take off or land at Rochester 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.
- The inaugural flight into Rochester was from Gravesend, with John Parker flying their Short Scion, G-ACJI, powered by a Pobjoy engine.
- Short Brothers continued to build seaplanes on the Esplanade at Rochester supplying the growing market for flying boats.
- The furthest airport from Rochester Airport (RCS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,897 miles (19,146 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
- Rochester City Council compulsory purchased the land at Rochester Airfield in September 1933 from the landowner as the site for a municipal airport.
- In 1999 a group of aviators and local businessmen at Rochester formed a company dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the long tradition of aviation at Rochester Airport, its service to the local community and for its longer term preservation.
- Rochester Airport (RCS) has 3 runways.
- Local ward councillors are very enthusiastic about the proposals and once they are implemented should see the Airport being available for use for a greater part of the year due to an all weather surface being planned for the 02/20 runway.
- An invitation to tender was issued and the existing operator became the preferred bidder after the closing date of 12 March 2013.
- Rochester Airport is an operational general aviation aerodrome located 1.5 nautical miles south of Rochester, Medway, South East England, with the River Medway 1.5 NM from the end of runway 34, 3.4 mi from Chatham and its Historic Dockyard and the Medway area.
Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):
- Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of 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.
- During 1965, the wing’s three missile squadrons were activated and crew training and certification began at Vandenberg AFB in southern California.
- In addition to the interceptor squadrons, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center was established at Grand Forks in 1958.
- 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.
- Grand Forks Air Force Base was established on 1 December 1955, with construction beginning in the fall of that year.
- On 18 February 1957, the 478th Fighter Group was activated at Grand Forks.
- 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.