Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Calama, Antofagasta Region, Chile:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and El Loa Airport (CJC), Calama, Antofagasta Region, Chile would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,179 miles (or 8,334 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 El Loa 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 El Loa 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):

• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile Wing.
• Grand Forks Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation in northeastern North Dakota, located north of Emerado and 16 miles west of Grand Forks.

Facts about El Loa Airport (CJC):

• El Loa Airport handled 315,725 passengers last year.
• The furthest airport from El Loa Airport (CJC) is Wuzhou Changzhoudao Airport (WUZ), which is nearly antipodal to El Loa Airport (meaning El Loa Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Wuzhou Changzhoudao Airport), and is located 12,369 miles (19,906 kilometers) away in Wuzhou, Guangxi, China.
• The airport currently accommodates aircraft with a maximum wingspan of 36m.
• In addition to being known as "El Loa Airport", other names for CJC include "Aeropuerto El Loa" and "El Loa Airdrome".
• The closest airport to El Loa Airport (CJC) is Carolina Airport (CLN), which is located 89 miles (143 kilometers) W of CJC.
• The airport served 247,821 in 2004, 273,275 in 2005, and 315,725 in 2006.
• Because of El Loa Airport's high elevation of 7,543 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at CJC. Combined with a high temperature, this could make CJC a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.