Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Nordholz, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Nordholz Naval Airbase (FCN), Nordholz, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,193 miles (or 6,748 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 Nordholz Naval Airbase, 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 Nordholz Naval Airbase. 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):

• The 4133d SW was redesignated as the 319th Bombardment Wing on 1 February 1963 in a name-only redesigation and was assigned to SAC's Second Air Force, 810th Strategic Aerospace Division.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• On 1 February 1993, ACC dropped the 319th Bomb Wing's primary nuclear mission and gave the wing the primary mission of B-1B conventional bombardment operations.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Nordholz Naval Airbase (FCN):

• Its aircraft fly predominantly over the North Sea on antisubmarine patrols.
• Because of Nordholz Naval Airbase's relatively low elevation of 74 feet, planes can take off or land at Nordholz Naval Airbase 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.
• It is the home of Naval Air Command, with the Naval Air Wing 3 and Naval Air Wing 5, equipped with the P-3C Orion, Dornier Do 228NG, Mk88A Sea Lynx and Mk41 Sea King.
• During World War I Nordholz served as the principal airship base for the Imperial German Navy.
• A year later the subhunting component of MFG 2 moved from Westerland on Sylt to Nordholz.
• Immediately north of the base is the grass runway of Spieka recreational airfield.
• In addition to being known as "Nordholz Naval Airbase", another name for FCN is "(Advanced Landing Ground R-56)".
• Nordholz Naval Airbase (FCN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Nordholz Naval Airbase (FCN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,711 miles (18,847 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In 1959 construction of the current airbase began.
• The closest airport to Nordholz Naval Airbase (FCN) is Bremerhaven Airport (BRV), which is located only 18 miles (30 kilometers) S of FCN.