Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Ely, Nevada, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Ely Airport (ELY), Ely, Nevada, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,054 miles (or 1,696 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 relatively short distance between Grand Forks Air Force Base and Ely Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• 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.
• 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.
• Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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".
• In 1971, the 18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was inactivated and the 460th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron replaced the unit.
• 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.

Facts about Ely Airport (ELY):

• In addition to being known as "Ely Airport", another name for ELY is "Yelland Field".
• Ely Airport covers an area 4,999 acres at an elevation of 6,259 feet.
• Because of Ely Airport's high elevation of 6,259 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ELY. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ELY a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• On November 12, 2006 Air Midwest started flights to McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada via Cedar City Regional Airport in Cedar City, Utah, The stop in Cedar City was due to the fact that McCarran Airport requires Transportation Security Administration screening not available at Ely Airport.
• The furthest airport from Ely Airport (ELY) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 11,082 miles (17,835 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Ely Airport (ELY) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Ely Airport (ELY) is Eureka Airport (EUE), which is located 65 miles (105 kilometers) WNW of ELY.