Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Armidale, New South Wales, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Armidale Airport (ARM), Armidale, New South Wales, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,686 miles (or 13,979 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 Grand Forks Air Force Base and Armidale Airport, 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 Grand Forks Air Force Base and Armidale Airport. 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 Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• 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.
• 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.
• In March 1995, the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission selected the 321st Strategic Missile Wing for inactivation.
• In October 1977, the PAR came under operational control of the USAF, which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system.
• 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.
• On 3 September 1974, the SAFSCOM Site Activation Team was relieved by the U.S.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Armidale Airport (ARM):

• The Armidale Dumaresq Shire Council has a number of upgrades to the airport currently in progress, with much of the funding for the works promised by Member for New England Barnaby Joyce during the 2013 Australian federal election campaign.
• The closest airport to Armidale Airport (ARM) is Inverell Airport (IVR), which is located 52 miles (84 kilometers) NNW of ARM.
• The furthest airport from Armidale Airport (ARM) is Santa Maria Airport (SMA), which is located 11,955 miles (19,239 kilometers) away in Santa Maria, Portugal.
• Impulse Airlines operated services to Sydney and Brisbane from 1994 until it was taken over by Qantas in 2001.
• The airport resides at an elevation of 3,556 ft above mean sea level.
• Armidale Airport (ARM) has 2 runways.