Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Kundiawa, Papua New Guinea:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Chimbu Airport (CMU), Kundiawa, Papua New Guinea would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,791 miles (or 12,538 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 Chimbu 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 Chimbu 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 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.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• In addition to the interceptor squadrons, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center was established at Grand Forks in 1958.
• On 3 November 1967, the Department of Defense revealed that GFAFB was one of 10 initial locations to host a Sentinel Anti-Ballistic Missile site.

Facts about Chimbu Airport (CMU):

• The closest airport to Chimbu Airport (CMU) is Goroka Airport (GKA), which is located 29 miles (47 kilometers) E of CMU.
• The furthest airport from Chimbu Airport (CMU) is Governador Carlos Wilson Airport (FEN), which is located 11,731 miles (18,879 kilometers) away in Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco, Brazil.
• Chimbu Airport (CMU) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Chimbu Airport's high elevation of 4,974 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at CMU. Combined with a high temperature, this could make CMU a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.