Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Beauvais, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Beauvais–Tillé Airport (BVA), Beauvais, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,180 miles (or 6,727 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 Beauvais–Tillé 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 Beauvais–Tillé 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 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.
• In October 1977, the PAR came under operational control of the USAF, which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system.
• On 18 February 1957, the 478th Fighter Group was activated at Grand Forks.
• Grand Forks AFB is the home of the Air Mobility Command's 319th Air Base Wing.
• 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.
• 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.
• Following the departure of the last B-1B aircraft in 1994, the base transferred to the new Air Mobility Command and the 319th Bomb Wing was redesignated as the 319th Air Refueling Wing.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".

Facts about Beauvais–Tillé Airport (BVA):

• In addition to being known as "Beauvais–Tillé Airport", another name for BVA is "Aéroport de Beauvais-TilléAdvanced Landing Ground (ALG) A-61/B-42".
• Beauvais was used as a Luftwaffe military airfield during the occupation.
• There is a taxi rank at the airport, and also a shuttle bus into the town.
• Beauvais–Tillé Airport handled 386,256 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Beauvais–Tillé Airport (BVA) is Amiens - Glisy Aerodrome (QAM), which is located 31 miles (51 kilometers) NNE of BVA.
• Beauvais–Tillé Airport (BVA) has 2 runways.
• In 1950 the Air Ministry offered to provide the wartime air base to NATO as part of the Cold War development of the alliance.
• The furthest airport from Beauvais–Tillé Airport (BVA) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Beauvais–Tillé Airport (meaning Beauvais–Tillé Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,041 miles (19,378 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Beauvais–Tillé Airport's relatively low elevation of 359 feet, planes can take off or land at Beauvais–Tillé 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.