Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Burnie, Tasmania, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Burnie Airport (BWT), Burnie, Tasmania, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,376 miles (or 15,089 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 Burnie 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 Burnie 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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 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.
• In May 2005, DoD's 2005 BRAC recommended GFAFB for realignment.

Facts about Burnie Airport (BWT):

• The closest airport to Burnie Airport (BWT) is Smithton Airport (SIO), which is located 36 miles (57 kilometers) WNW of BWT.
• Until early 2000, Burnie airport had the distinction of having a railway line cross the northern end of runway 05/23, complete with flashing red signals, but without boom gates.
• Burnie Airport handled 70,402 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from Burnie Airport (BWT) is Corvo Airport (CVU), which is nearly antipodal to Burnie Airport (meaning Burnie Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Corvo Airport), and is located 12,247 miles (19,709 kilometers) away in Corvo Island, Azores, Portugal.
• Burnie Airport, also called Burnie Wynyard Airport, is a regional airport located in Wynyard near the city of Burnie, Tasmania, Australia.
• Burnie Airport (BWT) has 2 runways.
• Because of Burnie Airport's relatively low elevation of 62 feet, planes can take off or land at Burnie 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.
• In addition to being known as "Burnie Airport", another name for BWT is "Wynyard Airport".