Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Blackpool, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Blackpool International Airport (BLK), Blackpool, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,823 miles (or 6,152 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 Blackpool International 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 Blackpool International 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.
• 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.
• 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".
• 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.

Facts about Blackpool International Airport (BLK):

• The furthest airport from Blackpool International Airport (BLK) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,823 miles (19,027 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• Blackpool International Airport handled 262,630 passengers last year.
• During 2006, British North West Airlines, the smallest airline based at Blackpool has, according to its website, stopped trading for both charter and scheduled flights.
• In addition to being known as "Blackpool International Airport", another name for BLK is "Squires Gate Airport".
• On 28 January 2012, plans were unveiled to launch a twice-weekly service to Albert - Picardie Airport with Danish Air Transport using ATR-72 equipment.
• Because of Blackpool International Airport's relatively low elevation of 34 feet, planes can take off or land at Blackpool International 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 factory was reopened by Hawker Aircraft in the mid-1950s to augment the production of Hawker Hunter jet fighters, under contract SP/6ACFT/9817/CB 7a.
• The closest airport to Blackpool International Airport (BLK) is Warton Aerodrome (WRT), which is located only 6 miles (10 kilometers) ESE of BLK.
• The airport site's first aviation use was in October 1909, when the UK's first official public Flying Meeting was held on a specially laid out site at Squires Gate, followed by another in 1910.
• Blackpool International Airport (BLK) has 2 runways.