Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Athens, Georgia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Athens Ben Epps Airport (AHN), Athens, Georgia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,211 miles (or 1,949 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 relatively short distance between Grand Forks Air Force Base and Athens Ben Epps Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

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.
• During the Cold War, GFAFB was a major installation of the Strategic Air Command, with B-52 bombers, KC-135 tankers, and Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles.
• 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 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 DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile 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.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• On 18 February 1957, the 478th Fighter Group was activated at Grand Forks.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Athens Ben Epps Airport (AHN):

• Athens Ben Epps Airport (AHN) has 2 runways.
• The Falcon Aviation Academy flight school is based at the airport.
• The closest airport to Athens Ben Epps Airport (AHN) is Barrow County Airport (WDR), which is located only 20 miles (32 kilometers) W of AHN.
• The furthest airport from Athens Ben Epps Airport (AHN) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,382 miles (18,317 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Because of Athens Ben Epps Airport's relatively low elevation of 808 feet, planes can take off or land at Athens Ben Epps 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.
• Until May 23, 2008, the airport was served by twice-daily flights to Charlotte on Air Midwest operating as US Airways Express.SeaPort Airlines is now the sole airline providing scheduled service to the airport, with daily flights to Nashville.