Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Barcelonnette / Saint-Pons, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (BAE), Barcelonnette / Saint-Pons, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,573 miles (or 7,360 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 Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons 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 Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons 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):

• On 18 February 1957, the 478th Fighter Group was activated at Grand Forks.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• 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 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 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.
• The DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile Wing.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (BAE):

• In addition to being known as "Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport", another name for BAE is "Aéroport de Barcelonnette-Saint-Pons".
• Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (BAE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (BAE) is Cuneo International Airport (CUF), which is located 51 miles (82 kilometers) ENE of BAE.
• The furthest airport from Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (BAE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport (meaning Barcelonnette - Saint-Pons Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,280 miles (19,762 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.