Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Yakima, Washington, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Vagabond Army Heliport (closed to fixed-wing aircraft) (FCT), Yakima, Washington, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,080 miles (or 1,738 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 Vagabond Army Heliport (closed to fixed-wing aircraft), 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):

• Grand Forks Air Force Base was established on 1 December 1955, with construction beginning in the fall of that year.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• On 1 November 1964, 321st Strategic Missile Wing was organized as the Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile wing at GFAFB, the first in SAC.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• In addition to the interceptor squadrons, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment Data Center was established at Grand Forks in 1958.

Facts about Vagabond Army Heliport (closed to fixed-wing aircraft) (FCT):

• The furthest airport from Vagabond Army Heliport (closed to fixed-wing aircraft) (FCT) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,789 miles (17,363 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• The closest airport to Vagabond Army Heliport (closed to fixed-wing aircraft) (FCT) is Yakima Air Terminal (YKM), which is located only 8 miles (13 kilometers) SSW of FCT.
• Vagabond Army Heliport (closed to fixed-wing aircraft) (FCT) currently has only 1 runway.